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1l?cat!)*i5  ^etiacjogical  Hi^jrarg  — 22 


THE 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CHILDHOOD 


BY 

FREDERICK  TRACY,  B.A.,  Ph.D. 

LKCTUEER  IN   PHILOSOPHY  IN  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  TORONTO 


/3S  /7 


SIXTH  EDITION 
REVISED,    WITH  AN  ADDITIONAL  CHAPTER 


BOSTON,  U.S.A. 
D.  C.  HEATH  &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS 

1907 


CopvaiOHT.  1894  and  1901, 
By  FEEDEKICK  TKACT. 


/ 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 


PAOB 

Pbeliminart V 

CHAPTER  I.     SENSATION. 

8B0TI0N 

I.    Sight 2 

II.     Hearing 20 

III.  Touch 27 

IV.  Taste 31 

V.     Smell 34 

VI.    Tempekatuke 37 

VII.    Organic  Sensations 38 

VIII.    Muscular  Feelings 40 


CHAPTER  II.    INTELLECT. 

I.    Perception 45 

II.    Memory       .        .        . 48 

III.  Association 52 

IV.  Imagination ^^ 

V.    The  Discursive  Processes 58 

VI.     The  Idea  of  Self 65 

iii 


IV  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  III.     THE   FEELINGS. 

SECTION  PAGE 

I.    Fear 72 

II.    Anger 75 

III.  Surprise,  Astonishment,  Curiosity 77 

IV.  Esthetic  Feelings 81 

V.    Love,  Sympathy,  etc. 84 


CHAPTER  IV.     VOLITION. 

I.    Impulsive  Movements 93 

II.     Reflex  Movements 94 

III.  Instinctive  Movements 98 

IV.  Ideational  Movements 102 

CHAPTER  V.     LANGUAGE. 

I.     Heredity  vs.  Education  in  Language      ....  115 

II.    The  Physiological  Development 119 

III.    The  Phonetic  and  Psychic  Development       .        .        .  124 

CHAPTER   VI. 

JEsTHETic,  Moral,  and  Religious  Ideas         .        .        .  161 


PRELIMINARY. 


»5*to 


The  comparative  method  of  study  has  commended  itself 
to  all  the  sciences  in  modern  times  by  its  fertility  in  results, 
and  is  now  being  employed  extensively  in  two  principal 
directions:  viz.,  the  analogical  and  the  genetical.  The 
philologist,  for  example,  compares  his  own  language,  on  the 
one  hand  with  other  languages  (in  the  search  for  analogies), 
and  on  the  other  avails  himself  of  all  manuscripts,  inscrip- 
tions, etc.,  which  show  him  his  language  in  its  earliest 
stages,  and  help  him  to  determine  by  the  operation  of  what 
causes,  and  according  to  what  laws,  it  has  developed  from 
its  original  crude  and  inefficient  state  to  its  present  pol- 
ished and  complicated  condition.  And  similarly  with  other 
sciences.  In  the  case  of  psychology  the  application  of  the 
comparative  method  has  led  the  investigator  to  the  obser- 
vation of  mental  manifestations  in  the  lower  animals ;  in 
human  beings  of  morbid  or  defective  mental  life,  such  as 
the  insane,  the  idiotic,  the  blind,  deaf  and  dumb ;  in  peoples 
of  different  types  of  culture,  ancient  and  modern,  savage 
and  civilized ;  and  finally  to  the  study  of  mental  phenomena 
in  their  genesis  and  early  development  in  the  life  of  the 
child.     If  the  child  is  only  the  adult  in  miniature,  and  if 

v 


VI  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

society  is  only  the  individual  "writ  large,"  then  in  studying 
the  infant  mind  we  are  approaching  a  vantage  ground  from 
which  we  may  catch  a  prophetic  view,  not  only  of  psycho- 
logical, but  also  of  sociological  phenomena. 

When  we  compare  the  young  child  with  the  young  animal, 
we  cannot  fail  to  be  struck  by  the  apparent  superiority  of 
the  latter  over  the  former,  at  the  beginning  of  life.  The 
human  infant,  for  example,  requires  weeks  to  attain  the 
power  of  holding  his  head  in  equilibrium,  while  the  young 
chicken  runs  about  and  picks  up  grains  of  wheat  before 
the  first  day  of  his  life  is  over.  This,  however,  carefully 
considered,  is  a  token  rather  of  the  superiority  than  of  the 
inferiority  of  the  human  being.  The  higher  you  ascend  in 
the  scale  of  being,  the  more  varied  and  complex  is  the  en- 
vironment in  which  the  individual  moves,  and  to  which  he 
must  adapt  his  movements.  This  adaptation  requires,  on 
the  physiological  side,  a  cerebral  and  nervous  development, 
and  on  the  psychic  side  a  mental  growth,  for  which  time  is 
an  absolute  necessity.  Animals  go  on  all  their  lives,  doing 
the  same  simple  things,  which  require  a  minimum  of  mental 
activity,  and  which,  by  dint  of  constant  repetition,  produce 
physiological  adjustments  that  become  at  length  hereditary, 
so  that  phenomena  which  seem  to  the  casual  observer  the 
index  of  an  astonishing  degree  of  mental  advancement  — 
such  as  the  "scampering"  of  young  chicks  on  a  certain 
peculiar  call  of  the  mother  —  are  really  at  bottom  little  more 
than  the  response  of  an  organism,  adjusted  by  heredity,  to 
the  action  of  an  external  stimulus. 

The  longer  and  more  arduous  the  journey,  the  more  time 


PRELIMINARY.  VU 

is  required  for  preparation ;  the  more  complicated  the  art  to 
be  acquired,  the  more  extended  is  the  period  of  apprentice- 
ship. So  the  child,  having  an  infinitely  grander  life  before 
him,  and  infinitely  more  exalted,  complicated  and  difficult 
operations  to  perform  —  mental,  moral  and  physical  —  re- 
quires a  longer  period  of  tutelage  than  the  chicken,  which 
on  the  first  day  of  his  life  scratches  and  pecks,  and  to  the 
end  of  his  existence  makes  no  advance  upon  these  simple 
operations.  The  young  animal,  before  the  end  of  the  first 
day  of  his  life,  does  what  it  takes  the  child  a  year  to  accom- 
plish; but  the  child  of  two  years  does  what  the  animal  never 
will  accomplish  to  the  end  of  his  days. 

The  object  of  the  present  essay  is  to  discuss  infant 
psychology.  When  and  how  do  mental  phenomena  take 
their  rise  in  the  infant  consciousness?  How  far  are  they 
conditioned  by  heredity,  and  how  far  by  education,  includ- 
ing suggestion?  What  is  the  nature  of  the  process  by  which 
the  automatic  and  mechanical  pass  over  into  the  conscious 
and  voluntary?  These  are  some  of  the  questions  to  which 
the  following  pages  may  help  to  furnish  an  answer.  That 
they  may  do  so,  it  has  been  thought  best  to  gather  together, 
so  far  as  possible,  the  best  work  that  has  been  done  in  actual 
observation  of  children,  arrange  this  under  appropriate 
headings,  incorporate  the  results  of  numerous  observations 
made  by  the  writer  himself,  and  present  the  whole  in 
epitomized  form,  with  copious  references  and  quotations. 

The  first  edition  was  written  in  1893,  at  Clark  Univer- 
sity, and  presented  there  as  a  thesis  for  the  degree  of  Ph.D. 
Dr.  G.  Stanley  Hall,  President  of  the  University,  was  kind 


Viii  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD, 

enough  to  -write  an  introductory  note,  from  which  I  may 
quote  the  following  sentences :  — 

"  The  author  has  here  undertaken  to  present  as  concisely, 
yet  as  completely,  as  possible,  the  results  of  the  systematic 
study  of  children  up  to  date,  and  has  included  everything 
of  importance  that  could  be  found.  This  work  was  greatly 
needed,  and  has  been  done  with  a  thoroughness  which  all 
interested  in  the  subject  will  gratefully  recognize.  Most 
observations  have  been  limited  to  one  or  more  aspects  of 
the  vast,  many-sided  topic.  As  we  are  now  able  to  catch  a 
glimpse  for  the  first  time  of  the  entire  field,  we  realize  the 
importance  of  results  already  achieved,  and  the  yet  greater 
promise  of  the  future.  The  questions  here  treated  are 
fundamental  for  both  psychology  and  pedagogy,  for  the 
more  fundamental  the  traits,  the  earlier  they  unfold.  Yet 
it  should  be  remembered  that  the  data  for  infant  study 
are  relatively  more  complete  than  are  the  records  of  chil- 
dren of  school  age.  The  latter,  when  they  are  fully  pre- 
sented, may  be  more  practical,  but  the  former  are  more 
fundamental  for  philosophy  and  ethics." 

Within  a  year  a  second  edition  was  issued,  with  little 
enlargement  or  modification,  beyond  the  occasional  revision 
of  a  passage,  the  addition  of  several  footnotes,  a  table  of 
contents,  an  index,  and  a  more  extended  bibliography. 

Since  1894  the  book  has  passed  through  its  third  and 
fourth  editions,  and  has  been  translated  into  the  German, 
Russian,  Hungarian,  and  Japanese  languages.  The  present, 
or  fifth  edition,  is  carefully  revised,  and  to  some  extent 
rewritten.     Account  has  been  taken  of  all  the  best  contri* 


PRELIMINARY.  IX 

butions  to  the  subject,  up  to  the  present  date ;  and  a  large 
number  of  new  observations  have  been  made  by  the  author 
himself,  and  their  results  incorporated.  Finally,  with  great 
hesitation  and  diffidence,  the  author  has  ventured  to 
append  a  brief  sixth  chapter  on  the  aesthetic,  moral,  and 
religious  development  of  children.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  bibliography  has  been  dropped,  since  the  literature  of 
the  subject  has  now  grown  to  such  proportions  that  a 
complete  bibliography  would  require  a  separate  volume. 
I  cannot  forbear  calling  attention  in  this  place  to  one 
great  general  principle,  which  is  so  constantly  illustrated  in 
the  child's  mental  life  that  it  may  be  considered  universal. 
It  might  be  appropriately  named  the  principle  of  trans- 
formation, and  explained  as  follows:  Every  mental  phe- 
nomenon passes  through  a  graduated  ascending  series  of 
development.  At  first,  the  physiological  predominates, 
consciousness  is  at  a  minimum,  and  the  so-called  mental 
phenomenon  would  be  more  accurately  defined  as  the  reaction 
of  the  nervous  system  to  external  stimuli  or  to  organic 
conditions.  For  example,  the  child  cries  at  intervals  from 
the  moment  of  his  birth,  but  at  first  this  cry  is  independent 
of  his  will,  and  possesses  scarcely  any  mental  significance, 
for  it  is  made  without  cerebral  cooperation,  and  —  as  in  the 
case  of  microcephalic  infants  —  even  when  the  cerebrum  is 
entirely  absent.  Later  the  mental  aspect  becomes  more 
prominent.  When  the  intellect  and  will  have  become 
sufficiently  developed,  the  child  directs  his  attention  to  the 
act,  makes  it  his  own,  and  performs  it  voluntarily.  The 
process  perhaps  has  not  changed  at  all,  to  outward  appear- 


X  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OP   CHILDHOOD. 

ance,  but  when  viewed  on  the  inner  side,  it  is  seen  to  have 
been  completely  transformed  in  character;  and  one  of  the 
most  difficult  tasks  for  the  psychologist  is  to  determine  the 
when  and  the  how  of  this  transformation. 

The  exact  titne  at  which  each  psychic  activity  makes  its 
appearance  is  perhaps  of  less  importance  than  the  order  of 
the  various  activities  ;^yet  to.  ascertain  the  latter,  the  former 
must  be  carefully  noted.  Hence  'both  absolute  and  relative 
times  receive  attention  in  the  following  pages. 

I  have  room  to  acknowledge 'only  the  most  important  of 
my  obligations.  First  of  ~all|^t6"  the  President  of  Clark 
University,  Dr.  G.  Stanley  Hall,  but  for  whose  help  and 
counsel  the  book  would  never  have  been  written.  Then  to 
Professor  Baldwin  of  Princeton,  Professor  McCurdy  of 
Toronto,  Professor  Donaldson  of  Chicago,  Professor  Kirk- 
patrick  of  Winona,  Minnesota,  and  to  Professors  Sanford, 
Hodge,  Chamberlain,  and  Burnham,  of  Clark  University, 
who  furnished  valuable  notes  and  suggestions.  Then  to  Miss 
Sara  E.  Wiltse,  of  Boston,  who  allowed  me  to  consult  her 
very  valuable  memoranda  concerning  the  child  "  A  "  men- 
tioned frequently  in  the  text ;  as  well  as  to  the  mothers  of 
the  children  "  C  "  and  "  W,"  and  many  others,  who  placed 
valuable  notes  at  my  disposal. 

I  may  add  by  way  of  explanation  that  the  children  "  F,'' 
"G,"  and  "E,"  referred  to  in  the  text,  were  the  subjects  of 
prolonged  and  careful  observations  made  by  myself  during 
the  preparation  of  this  work.  Other,  more  isolated  observa- 
tions are  referred  to  without  any  special  designation. 

F.  Tract. 
Toronto,  1900. 


.s  A^f 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OP  CHILDHOOD. 


CHAPTER  I. 

♦ 

SENSATION. 
/SrS  /7 

It  is  important  to  treat  sensation  first,  because  it  lies  at 
the  foundation  of  all  mental  development.  All  the  higher 
processes  of  mind  are  simply  the  result  of  progressive 
"  syntheses  of  the  manifold  "  as  given  in  sensation.  Though 
we  may  not  agree  with  Locke,  that  all  ideas  are  derived 
from  sensation,  yet  we  must  agree  that  there  are  no  ideas 
in  the  mind  prior  to  sensation.  And  looking  at  the  active 
side  of  our  nature,  the  intimate  connection  between  the 
senses  and  the  will  is  equally  manifest.  Our  sense-impres- 
sions, produced  by  external  objects  upon  the  peripheral 
organism,  are  conveyed  along  the  afferent  nerves  to  sensory 
centres  closely  connected  with  corresponding  motor  centres 
in  the  cerebral  cortex.  Hence  the  importance  of  the  child's 
sense-growth. 

Are  any  sensations  felt  in  the  fcetal  stage  of  existence  ? 
And  if  so,  what  ?  In  answer  to  this  question,  we  may,  first 
of  all,  proceed  negatively  and  determine  those  senses  which 
obviously  cannot  be  in  operation  at  this  time.  Any  sense 
requiring  as  the  condition  of  its  exercise  the  medium  of 
light  or  air,  cannot  operate  until  the  child  is  born,  for 
prior  to  this  time  he  does  not  come  into  contact  with  these 

1 


2  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

media.  On  this  ground,  sight,  hearing  and  smell  are  prob- 
ably to  be  excluded ;  the  first  on  account  of  the  darkness 
of  the  uterus,  the  others  because  the  auditory  and  nasal 
passages  are  at  this  time  entirely  filled  with  the  amniotic 
liquid,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  air,  even  if  this  were  avail- 
able. There  is  reason  to  believe,  however,  that  from  about 
the  middle  of  this  period  the  foetus  is  susceptible  to  changes 
of  temperature,  and  that  touch  is  to  some  degree  awakened 
by  contact  with  the  surrounding  matrix.  To  what  extent 
these  rudimentary  foetal  sensations  partake  of  the  truly 
psychic  character  is  of  course  very  difficult  to  determine. 
Many  psychologists^  are  of  the  opinion  that  they  do  not 
at  all  involve  the  cooperation  of  the  centres  of  sensational 
and  motor  ideality.  ^Nevertheless,  it  is  certain  that  during 
the  later  months  of  pregnancy,  very  great  changes  take 
place  in  the  embryonic  brain,  especially  in  the  cerebrum.'^ 
If  it  be  allowable  to  conjecture,  it  is  probable  that  the 
"  sensations "  of  the  embryo  involve  consciousness,  though 
very  dim  and  vague,  and  that  the  foetal  movements  are 
reflex  or  automatic,  taking  place  in  virtue  of  an  organic 
connection  between  feeling  and  movement,  due  in  large 
part  to  heredity. 

I.   Sight. 

The  Embryonic  Eye. — During  the  earlier  stages  of  the 
embryonic  growth,  the  head  is  much  larger  in  proportion 
to  the  other  parts  of  the  body  than  at  any  subsequent 
time ;  and  this  is  especially  noticeable  in  the  anterior 
regions,  where  the  primary  vesicle  bulges  out  prominently 
on  each  side.  These  protruding  portions  gradually  fold  in 
upon  themselves  to  form  the  nervous  parts  of  the  eye,  such 
as  the  retina  and  optic  nerve.     Simultaneously  with  this, 

^  E.g. ,  Wirchow,  quoted  by  Perez.  ^  Bastian. 


SENSATION.  6 

the  crystalline  lens  is  developed  by  the  involution  of  the 
epiblast,  and  is  received  into  the  hollow  cup  formed  by 
the  folding  in  of  the  primary  vesicle  spoken  of.  The  re- 
maining space  afterwards  becomes  filled  with  the  vitreous 
humor.  "  The  lids  make  their  appearance  gradually  as 
folds  of  integument,  subsequently  to  the  formation  of  the 
globe  in  the  third  month  of  foetal  life.  When  they  have 
met  together  in  front  of  the  eye,  their  edges  become  closely 
glued  together  by  an  epithelial  exudation  which  is  removed 
a  short  time  before  birth." 

We  have  already  remarked  that  no  sensations  of  sight 
are  received  during  the  foetal  period.  If  this  be  true,  the 
cause  lies,  not  in  the  imperfection  of  the  organ  itself  —  for 
the  experiments  of  Kussmaul  and  Genzmer  on  premature 
children,  show  that  at  least  two  months  before  the  normal 
birth-time,  the  mechanism  of  the  eye  is  fully  developed  and 
capable  of  reaction  to  appropriate  stimuli  —  but  in  the  ab- 
sence of  light-impressions.  There  may  even  be  at  this  time 
vague  sensations  of  light,  arising  from  subjective  or  intra- 
uterine causes,  though  if  there  be,  they  can  have  but  little 
psychological  importance,  and  can  by  no  means  account  for 
the  actual  functioning  of  the  eye  immediately  after  birth. 

The  Eye  of  the  New-born.  —  If,  therefore,  the  state- 
ment is  made  that  the  new-born  child  is  blind,  it  must  not 
be  taken  to  mean  that  he  is  in  darkness  —  for  the  peripheral 
mechanism  of  the  eye  is  complete  at  birth,  and  the  differ- 
ence between  light  and  darkness  is  felt  from  the  beginning 
—  but  only  this,  that  he  cannot  as  yet  see  things,  in  the 
proper  sense  of  the  terms.  This  is  due  to  lack  of  expe- 
rience, to  imperfect  development  of  the  cerebral  centres, 
and  to  the  dazzling  effect  of  the  light,  which  now  streams 
in,  as  Sigismund  says,  with  millions  of  waves,  upon  a 
delicate  organ,  accustomed,  up  to  this  time,  to  complete 


4  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

darkness.'  This  latter  obstacle,  however,  is  soon  over- 
come, and  the  child's  progress  in  seeing  takes  place  with 
great  rapidity. 

The  sensation  of  light  is  the  first  feeling,  having  an  ex- 
ternal cause,  which  the  child  experiences  by  means  of  the 
eye.  This  organ  is  especially  adapted,  by  its  peculiar 
mechanism  of  retina  and  rods  and  cones,  and  by  its  nerves 
and  muscles  of  convergence,  contraction  and  accommoda- 
tion, to  receive  the  rays  of  light  that  fall  upon  it;  and 
hence,  as  soon  as  the  first  shock  is  over,  and  the  infant 
eye  has  become  accustomed  to  its  new  surroundings,  it 
turns  toward  the  light  as  naturally  as  the  opening  petals 
of  a  newly-blown  flower  turn  toward  the  rising  sun.  Or, 
as  Locke  has  said :  "  Even  as  the  soul  thirsts  for  ideas,  so 
the  eye  of  the  child  thirsts  for  the  light."  This  sensibility 
to  light  is  normally  present  in  the  first  minutes  of  life,  and 
is  rarely  delayed  beyond  a  few  hours,  except  in  the  case  of 
some  malformation  of  the  organs.  At  this  stage,  however, 
the  distinction  of  light  and  darkness  is  felt  rather  than 
knoivn ;  and  even  the  turning  of  the  head  toward  the  light, 
which  has  been  observed  on  the  second  day  of. life,  and 
even  as  early  as  the  twentieth  hour,^  must  be  considered 
as  nearly  akin  to  the  movement  of  the  plant  toward  the 
light.  But  this  condition  of  things  is  not  of  long  duration. 
To  take  a  single  case  (that  of  Preyer's  boy),  we  are  told 
that  he  soon  began  to  show  signs  of  pleasures  at  a  moderate 
light,  pain  at  too  powerful  glare,  and  less  pleasure  in  dark- 

1  Kussmaul  also  remarks :  "  Ausgetragene  Kinder,  welche  eben  zur 
Welt  gekommen  und  ruhig  geworden  sind,  versuchen  ofter  das  Auge 
wiederholt  zu  ofifnen  sind  aber  immer  wieder  gezwungen  es  rasch  und 
kramphaft  vor  dem  einfallenden  hellen  Lichte  zu  schliessen." 

2  Kussmaul  cites  the  case  of  a  boy,  who  though  born  in  the  seventh 
month,  yet  turned  his  head  towards  the  window  on  the  second  day  of 
his  life. 


SENSATION.  6 

ness.  Even  during  the  first  day  the  expression  of  his  face 
changed  when  an  intervening  object  cut  off  the  light,  and  on 
the  eleventh  day  he  would  cry  when  the  light  was  carried 
out  of  the  room.  As  time  passed  on,  he  continually  took 
increasing  notice  of  these  sensations,  until  in  his  second 
month  the  sight  of  a  bright  light,  or  a  brightly  colored 
object  was  sufficient  to  elicit  from  him  exclamations  of 
delight. 

Too  powerful  a  light  causes  discomfort,  even  in  sleep. 
The  child  knits  his  eyelids  more  closely  together,  or  even 
becomes  restless  and  awakes.  A  very  bright  light  is  espe- 
cially painful  immediately  on  awakening.  Preyer  observed 
that  his  boy  shut  his  eyes  and  turned  his  head  away  when  a 
candle  was  held  close  to  him  on  awakening.  But  when  he 
had  been  awake  for  some  hours,  he  looked  steadily,  without 
blinking,  at  a  candle  held  one  metre  from  his  eyes.^ 

With  these  qualifications,  we  may  conclude,  then,  that 
"light  is  pleasant  to  the  eye,"  being  its  natural  "food,"  and 
that  under  its  influence  the  delicate  organ  of  vision  grows 
and  develops,  the  visual  centres  in  the  cerebrum  become 
differentiated  and  capable  of  performing  their  function,  thus 
rendering  possible  the  subsequent  apprehension  of  qualities 
in  external  things  by  means  of  this  sense. 

Physiological  Adjustments  to  Light. — At  the  begin- 
ning of  life,  all  adjustments  of  the  visual  organ  to  the 
strength  of  the  light  are  reflex.  For  example,  from  the 
very  first  the  filaments  that  contract  the  pupil  perform  their 
function.  The  pupil  accommodates  itself  to  the  brightness 
of  the  light,  expanding  and  contracting,  as  Kussmaul  and 
Eaehlmann  have  shown.  Both  pupils  contract  when  the 
light  reaches  one  of  them.     These  movements  of  contraction 

1  I  believe  this  sensitiveness  to  light  on  first  awaking  is  also  quite 
common  among  adults. 


6  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

remain  automatic  to  the  end  of  life.  It  is  otherwise  with 
such  movements  as  following  a  moving  light  or  object  with 
the  eyes.  This  is  at  first  undoubtedly  reflex,  since  it  takes 
place  before  the  conscious  centres  have  been  sufficiently 
developed  for  voluntary  action,  but  it  afterwards  certainly 
comes  within  the  domain  of  the  will,  as  is  evident  from 
adult  conscious  experience. 

Eye  Movements.  —  This  includes  movements  of  the  eye- 
balls (upward,  downward,  and  from  right  to  left,  etc.),  and 
movements  of  the  lids  (raising  and  lowering),  as  well  as 
the  relation  of  the  two  to  each  other. 

Does  the  child  possess  a  complete  nerve-mechanism  for 
eye-movements,  working  perfectly  from  the  beginning,  or 
does  he  gradually  and  painfully  acquire  all  eye-movements? 
The  most  recent  observations  lead  to  the  following  conclu- 
sion :  The  mechanism  is  inherited  complete  so  far  as  pupil, 
retina  and  nerve  tracts  are  concerned,  but  the  corresponding 
brain  centres  are  not  yet  developed  in  the  first  days,  and 
become  so  only  by  experience ;  consequently  the  adjustment 
of  movements  to  external  conditions  takes  place  by  degrees. 
No  doubt  there  is  a  hereditary  predisposition  to  coordinated 
movements,  which  to  some  extent  facilitates  the  subsequent 
adjustment,  but  the  largest  share  is  due  to  experience.  The 
following  facts  have  been  established  by  careful  observations : 

First.  —  As  to  movements  of  the  eye-balls :  Complete  con- 
scious coordination  of  the  movements  of  the  two  eyes  does 
not  take  place  during  the  first  days.  True,  the  eyes  some- 
times move  together,  even  from  the  first,  ^  but  there  are  also 
numberless  non-coordinated  movements,  which  proves  that 

1  According  to  one  observer  on  the  fourth  day,  according  to  another 
on  the  second  day,  while  a  third  noticed  them  five  minutes  after 

birth.  Miss  Shinn  found  these  movements  usually  symmetrical  from 
the  first. 


SENSATION.  7 

the  coordinated  ones  are  accidental  at  first,  and  that  the 
useless  movements  are  only  gradually  eliminated.  Eaehl- 
mann  and  Witkowski,  in  a  very  large  number  of  observa- 
tions on  new-born  children,  carried  on  for  fifteen  years, 
found  that  the  infant  eyes,  especially  in  sleep,  "assume 
positions  and  perform  movements  which  are  entirely  con- 
trary to  all  the  principles  of  association, "  including  complete 
opposite  movements  of  the  eyes,  resulting  in  divergence  of 
eye-positions.  Sometimes  the  eyes  move  together,  later- 

ally and  vertically  (though  this  coordination  is  not  so 
perfect  as  in  the  adult),  but  just  as  frequently  are  the 
movements  irregular.  Sometimes  one  eye  moves,  while 

the  other  remains  at  rest.  Sometimes  the  head  is  turned 
in  one  direction,  and  the  eyes  in  another.  A  great  deal  of 
unnecessary  convergence  takes  place,  as  I  have  frequently 
observed.  In  most  observed  cases,  however,  these  asym- 
metrical movements  have  become  very  much  less  frequent 
by  the  third  month,  and,  at  a  little  later  time,  have  almost 
entirely  disappeared,  except  in  sleep. 

Second.  —  As  to  movements  of  the  lids :  The  only  lid- 
movement  that  can  be  accepted  as  inborn,  is  the  sudden 
"blinking"  when  a  foreign  substance  comes  into  contact 
with  the  lashes  or  the  cornea,  or  on  the  sudden  approach  of 
a  strong  light.  The  mere  approach  of  the  object,  without 
contact,  does  not  produce  blinking  at  first;  indeed,  in  some 
cases,  it  fails  in  children  two  months  old.  All  other 
lid-movements  are  at  first  accidental.  Sometimes  the  lids 
move  together,  though  more  frequently  they  do  not.  Some- 
times one  eye  remains  open  while  the  other  is  shut.  The 
two  eyes  do  not  always  open  to  an  equal  degree ;  and  often, 
if  one  eye  be  disturbed  and  blinking  take  place,  the  lid  of 
the  undisturbed  eye  will  follow  some  time  after  the  other. 
The  lids  are  often  raised  while  the  look  is  directed  down- 
ward, and  vice  versa.     The  child  often  falls  asleep  with  the 


8  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

lids  a  little  apart.  Coordination,  then,  is  not  perfect  at 
first,  but  becomes  so  by  experience.  Not  only  so,  but  the 
child  actually  has  to  unlearn  several  movements  (e.g.,  rais- 
ing the  lids  while  the  eyes  are  directed  downward)  and  these 
have  become  impossible  in  the  adult.  Gradually  these 
asymmetrical  movements  disappear,  until  by  the  end  of  the 
third  month  they  have  become  very  rare,  except  in  sleep.  . 
All  that  has  been  said  concerning  movements  of  the  eyes, 
and  of  the  lids,  separately,  is  true,  mutatis  mutandis,  of  the 
relation  of  these  to  each  other.  Perfect  coordination  among 
the  several  branches  of  the  oculomotorius  is  not  present  at 
the  beginning  of  life  (not  at  all  during  the  first  ten  days, 
according  to  Raehlmann),  but  is  a  gradual  attainment, 
requiring  time  and  experience.  But  when  once  the  awaken- 
ing mind  has  taken  possession  of  the  eye,  and  made  the 
movements  of  that  organ  its  own,  it  becomes  one  of  the 
most  expressive  organs  of  the  body,  and  reveals  the  various 
shades  of  the  inner  feeling  with  astonishing  accuracy. 

Fixation.  —  By  this  is  meant  conscious  direction  of  the 
gaze  upon  an  object,  as  contrasted  with  passive  staring  into 
space.  And  the  question  of  most  importance  here  is :  When 
does  the  child  pass  from  the  one  to  the  other  ?  The  question 
is  important,  because  it  throws  liglit  upon  the  beginning  of 
volition,  which,  in  its  exercise,  determines  in  such  large 
measure  the  mental  and  moral  development  of  the  child. 

Preyer  divides  the  "  seeing  "  of  the  infant  into  four  stages. 
I  shall  follow  his  classification,  bringing  under  each  lieading 
also  the  observations  made  by  others  on  the  period  in  question : 

First.  — Staring  into  empty  space;  experiencing  a  sensa- 
tion, but  not  perceiving  an  object.  The  ability  to  "  fixate  " 
an  object  is  lacking  in  the  newly-born,  because  he  has  as 
yet  no  control  over  the  muscles  that  move  the  head  and  eyes. 
The  apparent  looking  of  the  first  days  is  not,  therefore,  a 


SENSATION.  9 

voluntary  or  intelligent  action,  but  only  the  instinctive 
turning  of  the  head  and  eye  so  as  to  bring  the  liglii^||^o 
contact  with  the  central  portion  of  the  retina,  where  iri^o- 
duces  the  greatest  amount  of  pleasurable  feeling.  When 
Champneys  observes  that  one  child  ''  fixed  "  his  eyes  on  a 
candle  on  the  seventh  day,  and  Darwin  reports  that  another 
child  did  the  same  on  the  ninth  day,  Preyer  remarks  that 
this  was  probably  not  real  looking,  but  only  staring  into 
space,  since  in  other  similar  cases  it  was  observed  that  the 
child  continued  to  "  look  "  when  the  object  was  withdrawn. 
There  is  probably  no  fixation  in  the  first  nine  days. 

Second.  —  The  child  no  longer  "  stares, "  but "  looks. "  He 
fastens  his  gaze  upon  a  bright  extended  surface  {e.g.,  his 
mother's  face)  and  when  another  bright,  moderately  large 
object  comes  within  tlie  field  of  vision,  he  turns  his  eyes 
from  the  first  to  the  second.  One  child  was  observed  to  do 
this  on  his  eleventh,  and  another  on  his  fourteenth  day. 
Along  with  the  fixing  of  the  gaze,  there  is  also  a  more 
intelligent  expression.  Perez  reports  that  a  child  observed 
by  him  "looked  fixedly  for  three  or  four  minutes  at  a 
flickering  reflection  of  light  before  the  end  of  his  first 
month."  In  another  case,  an  object  was  looked  at  steadily 
in  the  fourth  week  for  the  first  time ;  in  another,  a  yellow 
dress  held  the  child's  gaze  at  five  weeks;  and  in  still 
another  the  power  of  fixation  is  reported  on  as  still  absent 
when   the   child    was    two    months    old.  Sigisnumd 

observes  that  about  the  middle  of  the  first  three  months  the 
child  "  begins  to  look  at  objects  with  attention ;  "  and  Kaehl- 
mann  found  that  "appropriate  selection  among  the  many 
possible  eye  and  lid  movements,  with  fixation  of  the  object, 
took  place  for  the  first  time  after  the  fifth  week."  ^ 

1  Taking  the  average  of  the  above  cases,  we  have  the  thirty -second 
day,  or  during  the  fifth  week,  as  the  time  of  the  beginning  of  fixation. 


10  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

Third.  —  In  the  third  stage,  the  child  has  acquired  the 
power  to  follow  with  his  eyes  a  bright,  moving  object. 
Here  we  have  associated  movements  of  the  eyes,  the  head 
being  motionless,  or  nearly  so.  We  have  now,  therefore,  a 
distinct  advance,  requiring  a  higher  exercise  of  power  over 
the  muscles.  The  movement  is  not  accomplished  if  the 
object  be  moved  too  rapidly.  In  one  case  the  child's  eyes 
followed  a  moving  candle  in  the  second  week;  in  another, 
on  the  twenty-third  day.  But  most  of  the  observers  have 
noticed  this  activity  first  about  the  fifth  week,  some  as  late 
as  the  sixth  or  seventh,  llaehlmann  remarks  on  this  point 
to  the  following  effect:  Associated  lateral  movements  of  the 
eyes  can  be  found  seldom  earlier  than  the  fifth  week.  Hold 
a  bright  or  colored  object  at  a  little  distance,  directly  before 
the  child's  eyes.  One  soon  notices  a  peculiar  change  of 
expression,  accompanied  by  cessation  of  the  movements 
which  the  limbs  until  now  were  executing.  The  object  has 
been  fixated.  Now  move  it  slowly  in  a  horizontal  direction 
to  one  side,  and  both  the  eyes  follow,  but  without  movement 
of  the  head.  If  the  object  be  moved  quickly,  the  child's 
eyes  lose  it  at  once;  and  also  if  the  movement  be  vertical 
instead  of  horizontal.^ 

In  the  early  part  of  this  third  stage,  Preyer  holds,  there 
is  no  necessary  cooperation  of  the  cerebrum,  but  only  of  the 
corpora  quadrigemina,  and  he  cites  in  proof  the  experiment 
of  Longet  with  a  pigeon,  from  which  the  cerebral  hemi- 
spheres had  been  carefully  removed,  and  which,  in  that 
condition,  followed  with  its  eyes  the  flame  of  a  moving 
candle.  It  may  be  remai'ked,  however,  that  since  the 
instinctive  and  reflex  play  so  much  larger  a  part  relatively 

1  Genzmer,  on  the  other  hand,  by  shaking  a  bright  object  before  the 
eyes,  obtained  not  only  fixation,  but  "following"  movements  in  a 
large  number  of  children,  at  a  much  earlier  age  than  this. 


SENSATION.  11 

in  the  lower  animals  than  in  man,  this  proof  is  not  entirely- 
trustworthy,  forasmuch  as  a  movement,  which  in  the  lower 
animals  is  reflex,  may  in  man  require  the  cooperation  of 
the  cerebrum.  More  to  the  purpose  would  be  the  case  of 
an  acephalous  or  microcephalous  child.  KoUman  says  of  the 
microcephalous  Margaret  Becker,  eight  years  of  age :  "  Her 
gait  is  tottering,  the  movements  of  the  head  and  extremities 
jerky,  not  always  coordinated,  hence  unsteady,  inappro- 
priate, and  spasmodic;  her  look  is  restless,  objects  are  not 
definitehj  fixated."  This  case  seems  to  point  in  the  opposite 
direction  from  that  of  Longet's  pigeon,  and  Preyer's  con- 
clusion therefrom. 

Fourth.  —  Here  we  pass  from  looking  to  observing,  to  the 
active  search  for  objects.  The  child  has  acquired  ability 
to  give  definite  direction  to  the  gaze,  and  hold  it  there.  Of 
course  the  first  attempts  are  often  ineffectual,  but,  roughly 
speaking,  from  about  the  third  to  the  fifth  month,  this 
power  is  obtained.  A  girl  of  ten  weeks  looked  for  the 
face  of  a  person  calling  her.  A  boy  in  his  sixth  week 
moved  his  head  to  follow  a  look  cast  in  a  certain  direction. 
Another  began  in  his  sixteenth  week  to  look  intently  at  his 
own  hands.  Another  of  twelve  weeks,  on  hearing  a  noise 
made  by  a  person  on  a  drinking  glass  with  a  moistened 
finger,  turned  his  head  in  the  direction  of  the  noise,  and, 
after  one  or  two  ineffectual  attempts,  found  the  object  with 
his  eyes  and  fixated  it.  In  the  fourteenth  week  he  followed 
promptly  the  movements  of  a  pendulum  which  made  forty 
complete  oscillations  per  minute,  Sigismund's  boy,  at 

nineteen  weeks,  paid  great  attention  to  the  movements  of  a 
pendulum,  and  afterwards  followed  the  movements  of  a 
spoon  from  dish  to  mouth  and  back  again,  with  eager  mien. 
Rapid  movements,  however,  are  not  as  yet  preferred.  In 
the  railway  carriage,  the  child  of  this  age  does  not  look  at 
the  passing  objects,  but  rather  at  the  walls  and  ceiling  of 


12  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

the  coach.  Not  before  the  twenty-ninth  week  (in  one 
observed  case)  did  the  child  look  distinctly,  beyond  doubt, 
at  a  sparrow  flying  by.  Another  "watched  the  flight  of 
birds"    when   five    months   old.  It   will    readily   be 

observed  that  the  full  attainment  of  this  fourth  stage 
involves  voluntary  control  of  the  mechanism  of  the  eye  as 
well  as  considerable  progress  in  the  intellectual  apprehen- 
sion of  the  external  world.  So  that  now  the  child  is  no 
longer  the  reflex,  staring  creature,  but  has  become  the  bona 
fide  "  seeing  "  human  being. 

Seeing  in  Perspective.  —  Numerous  observations  con- 
firm the  following  statements : 

(a)  The  new-born  child  does  not  see,  in  any  sense  of  the 
word,  objects  that  are  very  distant  from  him ;  or  if  he  sees 
them  at  all,  the  impression  made  by  them  upon  the  retina  is 
so  vague  as  not  to  enter  into  distinct  consciousness.  In- 
deed, there  are  few  distinct  retinal  images  at  first  from 
objects  either  near  or  distant. 

(6)  For  a  long  time  after  he  is  able  to  see  objects  at  a 
considerable  distance,  and  several  objects  at  unequal  dis- 
tances in  the  field  of  vision  together,  he  still  does  not  know 
how  unequal  their  distances  are,  or  even  that  they  are 
unequal.^  The  physiological  mechanism  of  the  eye,  by 
which  it  is  "  accommodated "  to  the  distance  of  the  object 
seen,  operates  very  early;  but  the  estimation  of  distance  is 
long  imperfect.  At  one  month  and  five  days,  Tiedemann's 
son  "  distinguished  objects  outside  him,  and  tried  to  seize 
them,  extending  his  hands  and  bending  his  body."  By  the 
end  of  the  second  month,  there  is,  according  to  one  observer, 

1  "  H  est  prouv6,  par  des  faits  certains,  qu'ils  sent  plusieurs  mois, 
sans  avoir  d'idfie  precise  des  distances."  Cabanis,  "Rapports  du 
physique  et  du  moral  de  I'homme." 


SENSATION.  13 

a  vague  idea  of  distance.  But  most  observers  place  it  much 
later  than  this.  One  says :  "  The  first  real  grasping  of  the 
fixated  object,  with  appreciation  of  its  distance,  was  observed 
about  the  end  of  the  fifth  month.  But  it  is  very  slowly 
acquired,  and  not  until  much  later  than  this  does  the  hand 
proceed  directly,  by  the  nearest  way,  to  the  object." 
Another  found  but  little  comprehension  of  size  or  distance 
until  the  sixth  month.  Another  reports  of  a  little  boy  that 
when  nearly  a  year  old,  he  "  saw  the  moon  and  stars,  and 
his  eagerness  to  have  the  moon  was  most  interesting. 
Night  after  night  he  would  call  for  it,  stretching  out  his 
little  hands  towards  the  window."  The  girl  F.  did  not 

look  at  anything  very  far  away  until  she  was  a  year  old. 
Another  child,  even  in  the  second  year,  "repeatedly  mis- 
named men  or  boys  at  perhaps  twenty  yards  distance ;  the 
less  familiar  person  being  almost  always  called  by  the  name 
of  the   one  better  known."  Preyer's  boy,  when  four 

months  old,  "  often  grasped  at  objects  which  were  twice  the 
length  of  his  arm  from  him;  when  considerably  over  a  year 
old  he  grasped  again  and  again  at  a  lamp  in  the  ceiling  of  a 
railway  carriage,  and  when  nearly  two  years  old  tried  to 
hand  a  piece  of  paper  to  a  person  looking  out  of  a  second 
story  window,  from  the  garden  below  —  "a  convincing  proof 
how  little  he  appreciates  distance."  ^ 

(c)  At  first  the  child  sees  only  colored  surface,  and  not 
figures  in  the  third  dimension.  All  objects  present  them- 
selves to  his  eye  simply  as  patches  of  color.  Gradually,  by 
the  aid  of  movement  and  touch,  he  comes  to  a  knowledge  of 
their  cubic  properties.     Hence  also  arises  by  experience  an 


1  And  yet  another  child  had  apparently  attained  a  comparatively 
correct  estimation  of  distance  by  the  end  of  her  seventh  month,  as 
she  "invariably  refused  to  reach  for  an  object  more  than  fourteen 
inches  distant,  her  reaching  distance  being  from  nine  to  ten  inches." 


14  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF  CHILDHOOD. 

association  between  the  forms  and  distances  of  objects  and 
their  varying  degrees  of  luminosity,  so  that  the  child  comes 
to  interpret  the  one  in  terms  of  the  other.  Hence  the 
progress  of  the  child  in  complete  vision,  including  all  that 
is  meant  by  the  appreciation  of  perspective,  is  immensely 
facilitated  from  the  time  he  begins  to  walk,  since,  by  loco- 
motion,  lie  is  able  to  approach  the  object  and  bring  sight, 
touch,  and  the  muscular  sense  to  bear  upon  its  examination. 

Color  Discrimination. — Not  only  is  color  blindness 
"  notoriously  hereditary  "  as  an  abnormal  condition  in  the 
adult,^  but  it  is  the  normal  condition  of  the  new-born 
child.  Since  the  tractus  opticus  does  not  get  its  nerve 
medulla,  and  with  that  its  permanent  coloring,  until  the 
third  or  fourth  day  of  life,  there  is  probably  no  discrimina- 
tion of  colors  up  to  that  time,  but  only  of  light  and  dark- 
ness. Moreover,  even  when  discrimination  of  colors  has 
begun,  it  proceeds  very  slowly,  and  the  investigation  is  beset 
by  difficulties.  How  are  we  to  distinguish  (e.g.)  the  mere 
feeling  of  dilference  between  sensations  of  color  from  intel- 
ligent apprehension  of  the  colors  themselves?  Very  little 
can  be  done  until  the  child  can  speak,  and  even  then  new 
difficulties  present  tlieraselves.  The  names  of  colors  are 
more  difficult  to  acquire  tlian  the  names  of  things,  because 
more  abstract.  Grant  Allen  found  that  children  of  two 
years  and  even  more,  who  knew  perfectly  well  the  names  of 
grapes,  strawberries,  and  oranges,  yet  had  no  appropriate 
verbal  symbol  for  purple,  crimson,  or  orange,  as  a  color; 

1  Color  blindness  seems  much  more  common  among  males  than 
among  females.  Tests  made  in  1879  on  nearly  thirty  thousand  stu- 
dents of  the  various  schools  in  the  city  of  Boston,  showed  that  of  the 
boys  four  in  every  hundred  were  color  blind,  while  among  the  girls 
the  proportion  was  less  than  one  in  a  thousand.  B.  Joy  Jeffers,  A.M., 
M.D.,  in  "School  Documents,"  No.  13,  Boston,  1880. 


SENSATION.  15 

and  I  have  found  in  examining  the  child- vocabularies,  which 
I  have  collected  for  the  fifth  chapter  of  the  present  work, 
that  out  of  five  thousand  four  hundred  words,  only  about 
thirty  are  color  terms.  In  several  cases  the  vocabulary  of 
a  child  two  years  old  contains  not  a  single  color  word, 
though  he  habitually  employs  from  three  to  five  hundred 
words.  Another  difficulty  lies  in  the  association  between 

the  color  and  its  name.  The  child  may  know  a  color  —  red 
—  perfectly  well;  and  may  also  know  the  sound  —  red, — 
but  he  may  not  be  able  to  associate  the  two  together,  so  as 
when  red  is  named,  to  point  it  out;  or,  when  it  is  pointed 
out,  to  name  it.  This  is  not  from  lack  of  ability  to  distin- 
guish color  from  color,  but  from  inability  to  associate  the 
color  with  the  spoken  word. 

A  girl  ten  days  old  had  her  attention  arrested  by  the  con- 
trasted colors  of  her  mother's  dress.  She  seemed  pleased 
and  smiled.  A  boy  twenty-three  days  old  was  pleased 

with  a  brightly  colored  curtain.  Another  child  in  his 
second  month  took  notice  of  the  difference  between  bright 
colors  and  quiet  ones,  and  showed  his  preference  for  the 
former  by  smiles.  Another,  towards  the  end  of  his  second 
month,  was  attracted  by  white,  blue  and  violet,  other  colors 
being  indifferent.  A  girl  of  three  months  and  a  boy  of  five 
months  seemed  pleased  with  some  drawings  of  a  uniformly 
gray  color,  while  Genzmer's  boy  for  the  first  four  months 
of  his  life  seemed  attracted  only  by  white  objects,  but  after 
that  time  he  began  to  show  a  preference  for  other  bright 
colors,  especially  red.  Raehlmann  found  no  distinction  of 
similar  objects  differently  colored  until  a  good  while  after 
the  fifth  week.  Sometimes  a  strange  antipathy  to  certain 
colors  is  manifested.  In  several  cases  children  have  refused 
to  go  to  anybody  dressed  in  black. 

Experiments  in  color  discrimination,  which  involve  the 
use  of  words,  may  be  carried  on  in  two  ways.     A  color  may 


16  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

be  named,  and  the  child  required  to  pick  that  color  out  of 
several;  or  the  color  may  be  shown  him,  and  he  required  to 
name  it.  Preyer  used  both  methods,  with  the  following 
results:  In  the  twentieth  month  repeated  trials  yielded 
absolutely  no  result,  but  in  the  beginning  of  the  child's 
third  year,  the  first  correct  responses  were  obtained,  the 
result  being  eleven  right  answers  and  six  wrong  ones.  In 
this  case  he  used  two  colors,  red  and  green.  Then  yellow 
was  added,  and  at  once  took  its  place  as  the  color  most 
readily  perceived  (26th  month).  The  percentages  of  right 
answers  were :  Yellow  82,  green  77,  red  72.  Blue  was  then 
added,  with  the  following  result:  Yellow  94,  green  79,  red 
70,  blue  69.  Trials  made  a  week  later  with  five  colors 
resulted  as  follows :  Yellow  100,  violet  92,  green  90,  red  83, 
blue  42.  Then,  with  six  colors :  Yellow  96,  violet  95,  red 
84,  gray  83,  green  74,  blue  67  (26th  and  27th  months). 
Finally,  two  weeks  later,  trial  was  made  Avith  nine  colors, 
resulting  as  follows:  Yellow,  gray,  brown,  and  black  100, 
red  94,  violet  85,  green  36,  rose  33,  blue  23.  Preyer  carried 
these  experiments  a  good  deal  further,  and  varied  the 
method,  but  with  substantially  the  same  results.  The  sum- 
mary of  all  his  tests  up  to  the  34th  month  gives  the  follow- 
ing order  of  preferences :  Yellow,  brown,  red,  violet,  black, 
rose,  orange,  gray,  green,  blue.  When  yellow  and  red  were 
removed,  the  child  showed  less  interest.  Blue  and  green 
were  avoided,  and  mostly  named  wrong,  green  being  often 
called  "garnix"  ("gar  nichts"  =  "nothing  at  all"). 

Binet  made  a  number  of  experiments  with  a  little  girl 
from  the  32nd  to  the  40th  month,  with  results  which  I  may 
epitomize  as  follows : 

1st  series :  Red  100,  green  61,  yellow  52. 

2nd  series :  Eed  100,  blue  92,  maroon  and  rose  89,  violet 
75,  green  71,  white  62,  yellow  38. 

In  these  experiments,  the  child  was  required  to  point  out 


SENSATION.  17 

the  color  named  to  her.  The  method  was  now  reversed, 
and  the  child  required  to  name  the  color  pointed  out  to  her. 
The  result  was  as  follows : 

1st  series :  Red  100,  yellow  0. 

2nd  series :  Blue  100,  red  9G,  green  82,  rose  57,  violet  54, 
maroon  50,  white  45,  yellow  28.  (M.  Binet  says  every  time 
an  error  is  committed  with  yellow,  it  consists  in  confound- 
ing it  with  green.  He  noticed  also  that  violet  was  con- 
founded with  blue.) 

Some  remarkable  differences  may  be  noticed  between  the 
results  of  these  two  observers.  For  example,  in  the  percep- 
tion of  yellow:  while  Preyer's  child  perceived  this  color 
better  than  any  other,  Binet's  little  girl  had  the  greatest 
difficulty  with  it.  Also  as  regards  blue :  in  the  one  case 
this  color  stands  at  the  very  bottom  of  the  list,  while  in  the 
other  it  is  almost  at  the  top.^ 

The  greatest  uniformity  obtains  in  the  case  of  bright  and 
glaring  colors,  such  as  red.''  This  may  have  a  physiological 
basis  in  the  fact  that  when  the  eyes  are  closed  in  a  bright 
light,  red  is  the  only  color  visible. 

In  the  foregoing  experiments,  the  child  must  know  the 
names  of  the  colors  before  the  tests  can  be  made;  and  we 
can  never  be  certain  that  the  mistakes  committed  do  not 
arise  from  confusion  of  words  rather  than  of  colors.  On 
this  account,  the  following  tests  made  by  Binet  seem  to  me 
of  far  greater  value.  Instead  of  the  "methode  d'appella- 
tion,"  as  he  calls  the  system  just  explained,  he  adopted  here 

1  Experiments  made  by  Wolfe  on  the  school  children  of  Lincoln, 
Nebraska,  gave  results  differing  from  both  Preyer  and  Binet.  Follow- 
ing is  the  order  in  this  case :  White,  black  and  red  (nearly  always 
correctly  named),  then  blue,  yellow,  green,  pink,  orange  and  violet,  in 
the  order  named. 

'^  Though  in  the  case  studied  by  Miss  Shinn  red  gave  a  good  deal  of 
trouble. 


18  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

the  "methode  de  reconnaissance,"  which  consists  in  show- 
ing the  child  a  counter  of  a  certain  color,  then  shuflBing  it 
together  with  a  number  of  counters  of  that  color  and  others, 
and  requiring  him  to  pick  out  a  counter  of  that  color.  In 
this  way  the  name  is  not  used  at  all,  and  the  test  proceeds 
purely  on  the  recognition  of  color.  The  results  by  this 
method  were  much  more  satisfactory.  With  three  colors 
—  red,  green  and  yellow  —  no  mistakes  were  made;  and 
even  with  seven  colors,  and  with  an  interval  of  time  between 
the  perception  and  the  recognition,  the  errors  were  very  few 
Indeed.  This  seems  to  show  that  the  child's  chief  difficulty 
is  not  in  recognition  of  the  color,  but  in  association  of  the 
color  with  the  sound  of  its  name.^ 

Objective  Interpretation.  —  The  understanding  of  the 
meaning  of  the  visual  sensation  is  the  slowest  in  develop- 
ment of  all  the  faculties  connected  with  the  eye.  The  sub- 
ject belongs  indeed  properly  under  the  head  of  Perception 
and  Judgment,  and  little  need  be  said  upon  it  here. 

To  comprehend  the  distance  and  form  of  an  object,  is  an 
advance  on  the  rudimentary  "  seeing  "  of  the  object ;  but  to 
understand  what  the  object  is,  so  as  to  distinguish  it  from 
other  objects,  and  be  conscious  of  a  relation  between  it  and 
the  perceiving  subject,  constitutes  a  still  further  advance. 
The  child  attains  this  further  advance  slowly  and  painfully, 
at  the  cost  of  many  tumbles  and  scratches,  the  result  of 
errors  in  judgment  that  are  sometimes  pitiable,  often  comi- 
cal. Feeling  and  instinct  render  great  service  at  this  time, 
and  often  lead  the  child  to  do  things  which,  on  a  casual 
view,  might  too  readily  be  interpreted  as  the  work  of  judg- 

1  For  a  criticism  of  all  these  methods,  and  the  explanation  of  another, 
in  which  the  whole  question  is  viewed  from  the  motor  standpoint,  see 
*wo  articles  by  Prof.  Baldwin,  in  Science  for  April  21st  and  28th,  1893. 


SENSATION.  19 

ment;  as  in  the  case  of  the  child  of  less  than  a  month,  who 
made  a  wry  face  at  the  sight  of  some  bitter  medicine. 

The  first  object  to  be  recognized  is  usually  the  mother's 
face,  which  is  greeted  with  a  smile  of  pleasure  by  children 
only  a  few  weeks  old.  But  this  first  recognition  is  very 
vague  and  inaccurate,  as  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  infant 
"  recognizes  "  in  the  same  way,  at  first,  any  other  face  which 
resembles  hers  in  broad  outlines ;  and  that  when  recognition 
of  the  father's  face  takes  place,  the  child  bestows  his  smile 
of  welcome  also  on  any  other  bearded  gentleman  who  hap- 
pens to  come  within  his  range  of  vision.  For  a  long  time, 
objects  are  not  grasped  as  comprehensive  wholes,  but  rather 
some  striking  feature  is  apprehended,  and  all  else  left  out 
of  account.  Hence  arise  some  of  the  very  peculiar  associa- 
tion groupings,  which  we  shall  notice  in  connection  with 
language.  From  about  the  sixth  month,  however,  evidences 
of  intelligent  comprehension  of  many  of  the  more  common 
objects  may  be  observed.  The  smile  or  nod  of  the  parents 
is  distinguished  from  that  of  strangers,  and  responded  to  in 
a  different  manner.  Visual  impressions  connected  with  food 
and   clothing  are   quickly  and  surely  recognized.  Yet 

even  much  later  than  this,  many  mistakes  are  made.  The 
child  of  a  year  and  a  half  will  try  to  pick  up  a  sunbeam 
from  the  floor,  to  grasp  his  own  reflection  in  the  mirror,  to 
pull  a  stream  of  water  flowing  from  a  sponge,  as  though  it 
were  a  string.  Even  at  the  close  of  his  second  year,  pic- 
torial representation  is  a  great  mystery  to  him,  and  he  pre- 
fers the  reality,  Sigismund's  boy,  at  two  years,  called  a 
circle  "plate,"  a  square  "bonbon,"  and  his  father's  shadow 
"papa;"  and  Preyer's  boy,  much  later  than  this,  called  a 
square  "window,"  a  triangle  "roof,"  a  circle  "ring,"  and 
several  dots  on  the  paper  "little  birds."  Pollock  tells  of  a 
girl  nearly  two  years  old,  who,  on  seeing  a  row  of  dots  on  a 
printed  page,  thus ,  cried  out,  "Oh,  pins,"  and 


20  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

made  repeated  attempts  to  pick  them  out ;  and  the  girl 
¥.  was  observed  one  day  trying  to  "  pick  up  "  her  father's 
white  protruding  culf  from  what  she  supposed  was  the 
underlying  coat-sleeve,  as  she  attempted  to  grasp  the  cuff 
from  that  side,  and  seemed  much  surprised  at  her  failure. 

II.    Hearing. 

The  importance  of  hearing  as  a  knowledge-giving  sense 
would  be  difficult  to  overestimate.  Besides  being  the  chan- 
nel of  a  large  part  of  our  knowledge,  and  the  medium  of  a 
vast  amount  of  refined  pleasure,  the  sense  of  hearing  plays 
so  large  a  rdle  in  the  acquisition  of  language  that  a  child 
who  is  perfectly  deaf  from  birth,  does  not  learn  to  speak. 

The  Embryoxic  Ear.  —  According  to  Quain's  Anatomy, 
the  more  important  parts  of  the  organ  of  hearing  are  formed 
by  the  involution  of  the  epiblast  from  the  surface  of  the 
head,  in  the  region  of  the  medulla  oblongata,  by  which  a 
depression  is  produced.  This  depression  gradually  deepen- 
ing, and  its  outer  aperture  becoming  narrowed,  a  flask-like 
cavity  is  formed,  which  constitutes  on  each  side  the  primary 
auditory  vesicle. 

The  possibility  of  hearing  in  the  intra-uterine  stage, 
depends  on  two  things,  viz.,  the  presence  of  adequate  stimuli, 
and  the  permeability  of  those  passages  and  nerve  tracts  by 
which  sensations  of  sound  are  mediated.  As  to  the  first 
condition,  there  are  probably  numerous  sounds  which  might 
produce  sensations  of  hearing  in  the  foetus,  such  as  the 
visceral  movements  of  the  mother  and  those  of  the  foetus 
itself.  Hearing  at  this  stage  is,  however,  highly  improb- 
able, because  the  second  condition  is  not  fulfilled.  The 
drum  cavity  is  filled  with  a  viscous  mass,  which  probably 
prevents   the   passage   of   the   necessary   sound-vibrations 


SENSATION.  21 

through  the  tympanum,  even  leaving  out  of  account  the 
complete  absence  of  air  at  this  period.  The  tympanum 
itself  also  has  not,  at  this  time,  the  perpendicular  position 
which  it  afterwards  assumes,  and  which  seems  necessary  for 
the  transmission  of  sound,  but  lies  rather  in  a  horizontal 
situation. 

Hearing  in  the  New-born.  —  Czerney,  in  his  experi- 
ments as  to  the  comparative  soundness  of  sleep  at  different 
times,  was  unable  to  use  a  sound  stimulus  with  new-born 
children  as  he  did  with  adults,  because  of  their  failure  to 
react  to  sound-impressions ;  he  was  obliged,  in  their  case, 
to  resort  to  electrical  stimulation.  Kroner  assured  him- 
self by  many  experiments  that  the  child,  in  the  first  week 
of  his  life,  reacts  distinctly  to  strong  sound-impressions, 
and  the  very  careful  experiments  of  Moldenhauer  confirm 
this  conclusion.  Mrs.  Talbot  says  of  one  child  that  he  was 
sensible  to  sound  three  hours  after  his  birth.  Sigismund 
saw  the  first  evidences  of  hearing  much  later.  ^  Perez  thinks 
there  may  be  —  through  vibration  —  something  correspond- 
ing to  a  rudimentary  and  general  sense  of  hearing  in  the 
uterus.  Champneys  could  not  elicit  any  response  —  by 
starting  or  otherwise  —  during  the  first  week,  to  any  noise, 
however  loud,  unless  accompanied  by  vibration  other  than 
air-vibration.  Kussmaul  utterly  failed  to  produce  any 
impression  in  the  first  days,  no  matter  how  loud  or  dis- 
cordant the  noise. ^     He  believes  hearing  sleeps  most  deeply 

1  "Nach  einigen  (drei  bis  acht)  Wochen  sieht  man  das  Kind  bei 
plotzlichem  Gerausche  zusammenfahren.  Da  erkennt  mann  klar,  dass 
jetzt  auch  fiir  die  wahrnehmende  Seele,  das  Hephata !  gesprochen 
ist."     "  Kind  und  Welt,"  p.  27. 

2  "  Mann  kann  vor  den  Ohren  wachender  Neugebomer  in  den  ersten 
Tagen  die  stfirksten  dishannonischen  GerSiusche  machen,  ohne  dass  sie 
davon  beruhrt  warden." 


22  THE   PSYCHOLOGY  OF   CHILDHOOD. 

of  all  the  senses.  But  he  quotes  Herr  Feldsbausch,  assist- 
ant in  midwifeiy  at  the  hospital  in  Jena,  to  show  that  there 
■was  hearing  in  many  cases  from  the  third  day.  Genzmer 
found  that  almost  all  the  children  on  whom  he  experimented, 
on  the  first  day,  or  certainly  on  the  second,  reacted  to 
impressions  of  sound;  but  the  reaction  was  unequal  in  dif- 
ferent children.  Dr.  Deneke  found  one  child  of  six  hours 
who  started  and  closed  his  eyes  tighter  at  the  sound  of  two 
metallic  covers  striking  together ;  while  Preyer  observed  one 
who  did  not  react  at  all  on  the  third  day,  and  another  who, 
on  the  sixth  day,  reacted  only  very  slightly.  Sully  noticed, 
on  the  second  day,  a  distinct  movement  of  the  head  in 
response  to  sound,  and  this  is  confirmed  by  Professor  Bald- 
win. Burdach  declares  the  child  hears  nothing  during  the 
first  week. 

On  these  the  following  observations  are  in  place,  and  may 
help  to  the  understanding  of  the  discrepancies : 

(1)  There  is  unanimity  on  one  point:  No  one  has  suc- 
ceeded in  proving  that  any  child  hears  anything  during  the 
first  hours.  This  corresponds  to  the  physiological  facts  that 
the  eustachian  tube  is  not  permeable,  nor  does  air  find  its 
way  into  the  middle  ear  until  some  little  time  after  respira- 
tion has  begun.  Lesser' s  experiments  show  that  the  foetal 
conditions  of  the  middle  ear  may  indeed  persist  in  the 
prematurely  born  more  than  twenty  hours. 

(2)  Starting  in  response  to  a  loud  noise  may  often  be 
caused  by  vibrations  which  affect  the  whole  body,  and  act 
as  a  nervous  shock.  Children  are  known  to  start  on  the 
slamming  of  a  door,  when  they  make  no  such  response  to  a 
voice,  however  loud.  No  doubt,  in  the  first  case,  the  child 
/eeZs  the  jar  rather  than  hears  the  noise. 

(3)  Any  further  discrepancies  not  resolved  by  these  two 
considerations,  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  differences  in 
maturity  of  different  children  at  birth,  and  the  varying 


SENSATION.    •  23 

rapidity  with  which  the  physiological  adjustments  are  com- 
pleted. Geueraliziug,  we  may  say  that  the  period  of  begin- 
ning to  hear  varies,  according  to  these  circumstances,  from 
the  sixth  hour  to  the  third  week.  If,  in  the  fourth  week,  a 
liealthy,  normal  child  makes  no  response  to  a  loud  sound 
behind  him,  there  is  reason  to  fear  that  he  will  be  deaf  and 
dumb. 

As  regards  localization  of  sounds,  the  ear  does  not  render 
very  much  service  in  this,  on  account  of  its  comparative 
immobility.  Even  in  the  adult,  a  sound  made  in  the  room 
above  is  with  great  difficulty  distinguished  from  a  sound 
made  in  the  room  below,  unless  some  other  circumstance 
enter  in  to  assist  in  the  determination. 

Champneys'  child,  on  the  fourteenth  day,  turned  his  head 
in  the  direction  of  his  mother's  voice,  but  this  was  probably 
due  as  much  to  feeling  her  breath  upon  his  cheek  as  to 
hearing,  since  he  did  not  do  it  when  her  face  was  turned  iu 
another  direction.  Leaving  this  observation,  then,  out  of 
account,  I  find  that  the  period  in  wliich  children  are  lirst 
observed  to  turn  the  head  in  the  direction  of  sounds,  extends 
from  the  tenth  week  (or  the  fifth  week,  according  to 
Alcott)  to  the  seventeenth  week.  One  child  sometimes 

turned  towards  a  sound  in  the  sixteenth  week.^  Another, 
at  four  months  and  ten  days,  "always  turned  his  head 
exactly  in  the  right  direction."  A  third  turned  his  head 

towards  a  sound  for  the  first  time  in  the  eleventh  week,  and 
by  the  sixteenth  week  this  movement  had  assumed  all  the 
certainty  of  a  reflex,  and  still  another,  when  five  months 
old,  on  hearing  the  rumbling  of  the  cars  in  the  street,  knew 
to  which  window  to   go   to   look   for  them.  Schultze 

observed  that  active  hearing,  with  attention,  began  after  the 

1  It  is  recorded  by  Miss  Shinn  that  a  child  during  her  second 
month  began  to  look  at  the  piano  keys  as  the  som-ce  of  the  sound. 


24  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

first  half-year.  Not  only  are  there  these  differences  among 
different  children,  but  in  the  same  child  the  accuracy  of 
localization  becomes  greater  by  exercise.  The  differences  in 
time,  noted  above,  are  doubtless  in  part  due  to  variations  in 
the  rapidity  of  the  physiological  development  of  the  ear. 

By  the  end  of  the  fourth  month  the  normal  child  has 
made  considerable  progress  in  the  understanding  of  the 
meaning  of  sounds,  i.e.,  in  the  interpretation  of  sounds  by 
their  timbre.  I  find  here  also  great  differences  in  the 
results  of  the  observations.  Tiedemann's  son  took  notice 
of  gestures  on  the  thirteenth  day.  Words  would  stop  his 
tears  or  call  them  forth,  according  to  the  tone  in  which  they 
were  uttered.  Another  child,  sixteen  days  old,  would  some- 
times leave  off  crying  when  his  mother  spoke  soothingly  to 
him.  At  two  months  he  distinguished  between  the  loud 
bark  of  a  dog  and  a  coaxing  yelp,  being  frightened  by  the 
former,  but  quickly  soothed  by  the  latter.  A  girl  of  three 
and  a  half  months  "  knows  when  she  is  being  scolded." 
On  the  other  hand,  out  of  one  hundred  children  observed, 
Dr.  Demme  found  only  two  who,  at  three  and  a  half  months, 
knew  their  parents'   voices.  Another  observer  reports 

that  at  two  months  there  was  no  apparent  appreciation  of 
ordinary  sounds,  but  children  of  four  and  a  half  months 
sometimes  recognized  a  voice. 

These  differences  are,  no  doubt,  to  some  extent,  due  to 
heredity,  and  to  some  extent  produced  artificially  in  the 
life  of  the  individual  by  exercise.  The  average  child  appar- 
ently begins  to  comprehend  the  meaning  of  tones  from  the 
second  to  the  fourth  month. 

A  very  interesting  point  in  connection  with  the  subject 
of  the  child's  hearing,  is  his  power  to  appreciate  music.  So 
intimately  associated  is  it  with  the  development  of  his 
esthetic  nature,  that  it  deserves  the  careful  study  of  the 
psychologist  and  the  educator. 


SENSATION.  .       25 

There  are  two  cliief  sources  of  pleasure  in  music:  the 
rhythmical  movement,  and  the  melody  —  the  time  and  the 
tune.  With  regard  to  the  first,  it  seems  safe  to  say  that 
no  healthy,  normal  child,  after  the  first  few  weeks,  fails  to 
appreciate  rhythmical  movements.  At  sixteen  days  one  boy 
was  soothed  by  the  gentle,  regular  movements  of  the  mother. 
These  first  musical  impressions  have  a  physiological  explana- 
tion. There  seems  almost  to  be  a  sense  of  rhythm.  The 
succession  of  notes  produces  a  flow  of  blood  to  the  brain, 
and  its  energetic  excitation  redounds  in  lively  sentiments 
and  animated  movements.  Thus  music  responds  to  that 
need  of  muscular  activity  so  strong  in  the  child.  The  social 
instinct  also  enters  here:  the  child  takes  more  delight  in 
noise  and  movement  when  some  one  is  at  hand  to  participate. 

With  regard  to  the  second  point,  the  opinion  may  safely 
be  ventured  that  no  healthy,  normal  child  is  entirely  lacking 
in  musical  "ear."  I  find  no  record  of  any  child,  who  has 
been  carefully  observed,  being  utterly  deficient  in  apprecia- 
tion of  musical  harmonies.  In  the  vast  majority  of  cases 
the  opposite  is  the  case.  Children  almost  always,  from  a 
very  early  age,  show  a  lively  interest  in  music.  In  one 
observed  case,  a  child  of  one  month  manifested  delight  in 
singing  and  playing.  Sometimes  children  only  two  weeks 

old  have  been  observed  to  stop  the  motions  of  their  limbs, 
and  apparently  listen,  when  a  piano  was  played  in  another 
room.  From  six  or  seven  weeks  onward,  and  especially 

in  the  latter  half  of  the  first  year,  the  child's  pleasure  in 
music  is  often  shown  by  a  sort  of  accompanying  muscular 
movements,  which  he  seems  unable  to  repress.  The  mother's 
song  of  lullaby  is  keenly  appreciated,  and  somewhat  later 
is  even  given  back  by  the  child  in  a  most  charming  infant 
warble.  The  emotional  element  in  the  music  is  often  keenly 
distinguished.  Dr.  Brown  says  of  one  of  the  infants  ob- 
served by  her  in  New  York  city,  that  when  only  five  and  a 


26  THE   rSYCHOLOGY    OF   CHILDHOOD. 

half  months  okl,  he  woukl  cry  when  his  mother  played  a 
plaintive  air;  but  would  stop  at  once,  and  begin  to  jump 
and  toss  his  arms  about  and  laugh,  if  she  struck  into  a 
lively  melody.  There  seems  to  be,  as  some  one  has  said,  a 
sympathy  between  the  ear  and  the  voice  which  antedates 
all  experience,  and  which  is  even  to  a  large  extent  indepen- 
dent of  normal  brain-endowment.  Even  idiotic  children 
(provided  they  are  not  deaf)  who  can  speak  only  a  few 
simple  words  and  syllables,  are  able  to  sing,  and  in  singing 
they  employ  other  words  besides  those  generally  at  their 
command.  While  all  this  is  true,  it  should  also  be  remem- 
bered that  the  child's  cerebral  and  mental  endowment  is 
exceedingly  plastic,  and  that  consequently  sounds  which  at 
first  were  disagreeable  to  him  soon  become  tolerable  and  even 
pleasant.  He  accommodates  himself  to  all  sorts  of  noises 
with  far  greater  facility  than  the  adult,  and  soon  comes  to 
take  great  delight  in  any  sort  of  rude,  banging,  grating 
sounds,  especially  if  they  are  his  own  production.  Hence 
there  is  no  sense  in  the  education  of  which  greater  care 
should  be  taken  than  the  sense  of  hearing.  As  already 
said,  probably  all  normal  children  are  born  with  a  capacity 
for  musical  appreciation,  tliough  of  course  not  all  in  the 
same  degree.  Now  in  the  early  period  —  during  the  first 
four  or  five  years  of  life  —  it  is  very  easy  to  cultivate  this 
musical  capacity  or  to  destroy  it.  If  the  child  hears,  every 
day,  rasping,  grating  and  discordant  noises,  he  will  come 
very  soon  to  like  these  as  well  as  the  most  harmonious.  It 
lies  within  the  power  of  parents  and  teachers  so  to  cultivate 
the  child's  capacity  in  this  respect  as  to  minister  in  an 
incalculable  degree  to  the  happiness  of  his  life  and  the 
purity  of  his  character.^ 

1  "  Comme  I'a  dit  si  bien  le  poete,  I'oreille  est  le  chemin  du  cceur. 
Envelopper  Penfant  d'une  atmosphere  de  sons  doux,  tendres  et  rgjouis- 
sants,  c'est  travailler  k  son  bonheur  actuul,  et  c'est  faire  beaucoup  pour 
son  humeur  et  sa  moralitfi  futures." 


SENSATION.  27 


III.    Touch. 


Touch  has  been  called  the  universal  sense,  because,  while 
sight,  hearing,  etc.,  have  each  a  special,  local  end-organ, 
touch  has  its  end-organs  in  every  part  of  the  body,  number- 
less nerves  of  this  sense  communicating  with  the  brain  from 
every  portion  of  the  skin.  The  importance  of  the  touch- 
sense  is,  therefore,  obvious.  Some  have  gone  so  far  as  to 
call  it  the  fundamental  sense,  and  have  endeavored  to  reduce 
all  the  others  to  it.  Without  going  this  far,  we  may 
readily  recognize  its  importance  in  the  mental  development 
of  the  child,  from  recorded  cases  of  children  who,  from  birth 
or  from  an  early  age,  have  been  deprived  of  the  other  senses, 
or  the  most  important  of  them,  and  who  have,  nevertheless, 
almost  by  touch  alone,  reached  a  remarkable  degree  of  in- 
tellectual and  moral  attainment.  The  field  of  the  present 
inquiry  is  covered  by  three  questions : 

(1)  As  to  the  first  beginnings  of  touch  experiences. 
(2)  As  to  the  comparative  delicacy  of  different  parts  of 
the  body.     (3)  As  to  the  education  of  touch  perception. 

(1)  All  observers  concur  in  the  opinion  that  the  sense  of 
touch  is  exercised  to  a  considerable  degree  in  the  foetal 
stage  of  existence.  Cabanis  expressed  the  opinion  that  the 
sense  of  touch  is  the  only  one  that  furnishes  the  cliild  in 
the  first  days  with  distinct  perceptions,  "  probably  because 
it  is  the  only  one  that  has  had  any  exercise  before  birth." 
Kussmaul  believes  this  sense  is  aroused  in  the  embryonic 
period  by  contact  with  the  surrounding  matrix.  Perez  holds 
that  there  are  indistinct  tactile  sensations  during  the  intra- 
uterine life.  Preyer  believes  touch-sensations  are  present  at 
this  time,  though  of  far  less  intensity  than  in  the  subsequent 
life.  Sully  speaks  of  touch  as  the  first  sense  to  manifest 
itself.  Erasmus  Darwin  expressed  the  belief  that  the  fatus 
receives  through  this  sense  some  representation  of  its  own 


28  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OP   CHILDHOOD. 

figure,  and  of  the  uterus  itself.  This  opinion  is  concurred 
in  by  nearly  all  the  authorities  quoted  in  this  connection 
here,  and  has  been  placed  beyond  doubt  by  the  experiments 
of  Kussmaul  and  Genzmer  on  prematurely  born  children,  in 
whom  they  found  the  sense  of  touch  already  in  full  opera- 
tion immediately  after  birth,  though  for  a  considerable  time 
it  is  not  accompanied  by  clear  and  definite  objective  refer- 
ence, but  is  only  a  subjective  feeling. 

(2)  Differences  in  sensibility  to  touch  impressions  among 
the  different  parts  of  the  body  are  not  so  great  at  first  as 
they  afterwards  become.  In  the  uterus,  the  surrounding 
medium  has  been  homogeneous ;  but  from  the  time  of  birth 
onward,  it  becomes  more  and  more  varied,  so  that  those 
parts  of  the  body  which  are  exposed  to  contact  with  the 
external  world  become  relatively  blunted  in  delicacy,  while 
those  which  continue  to  be  more  or  less  protected  —  such  as 
the  eye  and  the  tongue  —  retain  more  nearly  their  original 
sensitiveness.  Nevertheless,  the  differences  in  delicacy 
among  the  different  parts  at  the  very  first  are  surprisingly 
great. 

The  upper  surface  of  the  tongue  is  exceedingly  sensitive. 
Kussmaul  introduced  a  small  glass  rod  into  the  mouths  of 
children  just  born,  eliciting  prompt  responsive  movements, 
which  varied  in  character  according  to  the  part  touched. 
When  the  rod  touched  the  tongue  near  the  tip,  the  lips  at 
once  protruded,  the  sides  of  the  tongue  curled  up  around  the 
rod,  and  sucking  movements  followed.  When  the  rod  came 
into  contact  with  the  back  part  of  the  tongue  near  the  root, 
all  the  responsive  movements  —  expression  of  face,  mouth 
motions,  etc.  —  indicated  "nausea."  (Similar  results  were 
obtained  by  Kroner  and  Genzmer.)  No  doubt  we  have  here 
a  sensori-motor  reflex  established  before  birth.  The  same 
is  true  in  the  case  of  the  lips,  which  share  with  the  tongue 
an  extreme  delicacy  from  the  first.     Even  the  lightest  touci 


SENSATION.  29 

of  a  feather  produced  sucking  movements  of  the  lips  on  the 
sixth  day,  and  gentle  stroking  of  the  lips  produced  the 
same  result  on  the  fifth  day,       and  even  on  the  first  day. 

One  of  the  most  sensitive  parts  of  the  body  to  touch 
impressions  is  the  mucous  membrane  which  lines  the  nostrils. 
This  was  observed  to  be  sensitive  on  the  first  day  of  the 
child's  life.  "  Tickling  of  the  inner  surfaces  of  the  wings 
of  the  nose  with  a  feather  calls  from  children  first  of  all 
winking  of  the  eyelids,  stronger  and  earlier  on  the  tickled 
side  than  on  the  other;  if  the  irritation  be  increased,  the 
child  not  only  knits  the  eyebrows,  but  moves  the  head  and 
the  hands,  which  latter  it  carries  to  the  face."  It  appears, 
however,  from  the  observations  of  the  same  authority,  that 
this  sensitiveness  of  the  mucous  membrane  is  formed  only 
towards  the  end  of  the  period  of  gestation,  since  similar 
experiments  made  on  children  born  in  the  seventh  month 
were  without  result. 

Certainly  next  in  order  of  delicacy  —  if  indeed  they  should 
not  have  been  placed  earlier  —  come  the  various  parts  of 
the  eye:  the  lashes,  the  conjunctiva  and  the  cornea.  Of 
these  three,  the  lashes  are  considered  by  Kussmaul  and 
Kroner  the  most  sensitive  to  touch  impressions.  The  former 
says :  "  The  eyelashes  are  extraordinarily  sensitive  to  even 
the  faintest  disturbances.  If  the  child,  when  awake,  has 
the  eyes  open,  one  can  press  with  a  glass  rod  even  to  the 
cornea  before  it  will  close  the  eyes;  but  should  only  one  of 
the  little  lashes  be  disturbed  in  the  least,  this  closing  of 
the  eyes  will  take  place  at  once.  The  disturbance  of  the 
eyelids  is  not  so  efficacious  by  far;  it  will  by  no  means  be 
answered  every  time  by  eye-winking,  as  in  the  case  of  tlie 
cilia."  He  goes  on  to  say  that  if  one  should  blow  through 
a  small  tube  of  twisted  paper  upon  the  face  of  an  infant, 
winking  will  take  place  only  when  the  stream  of  air  has 
disturbed  one  of  the  cilia.     Genzmer  and  Preyer  differ  from 


30  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

Kussmaul  here,  holding  that  the  cornea  is  more  sensitive 
than  the  lashes.  These  facts  are  interesting  as  bearing  on 
the  question  of  priority  between  sight  and  touch  in  the  eye. 
It  has  been  frequently  noticed  that  the  child  does  not  for  a 
good  while  blink  when  a  finger  is  thrust  at  the  eye,  provided 
it  does  not  come  into  contact  with  it.  Touch-reflexes  seem, 
therefore,  to  be  developed  earlier  than  sight-reflexes. 

If  the  tip  of  the  nose  be  touched,  both  eyes  will  be  shut 
tight.  If  one  side  be  touched,  the  child  will  generally  close 
the  eye  on  that  side.  If  the  irritation  be  increased,  both 
eyes  will  be  closed  and  the  head  drawn  somewhat  back. 
This  is  an  inborn  defensive  reflex. 

If  one  tickles  the  palm  of  the  hand  of  a  new-born  child, 
the  fingers  will  close  round  the  object  with  which  it  was 
tickled.  The  skin  of  the  face  seems  even  more  sensitive 

still.  On  tickling  the  sole  of  the  foot,  active  reflex  move- 
ments follow,  such  as  bending  the  knees  and  hip-joints, 
curling  and  spreading  the  toes,  etc.  The  reaction  time  is 
longer,  however,  in  infants  than  in  adults,  sometimes 
amounting  to  two  seconds.  Slaps  also  are  more  effective 
than  pricks,  some  children  showing  comparative  indifference 
to  the  latter.  A  greater  number  of  nerve  ends  are  stimu- 
lated by  a  slap,  hence  the  more  speedy  reaction.  The 
greater  sensitiveness  of  the  adult  to  sense  impressions  in 
general  is  due  to  his  more  advanced  cerebral  development, 
and  not  to  any  superiority  in  cutaneous  or  nervous  adjust- 
ment. 

The  other  parts  of  the  body  are,  speaking  roughly,  sensi- 
tive to  touch  impressions  in  the  following  order :  The  audi- 
tory canal  (in  the  second  quarter  of  the  first  year,  the  child 
observed  by  Preyer  would  instantly  stop  crying  and  become 
very  quiet,  if  one's  little  finger  were  placed  gently  in  the 
ear  cavity),  forearm,  leg,  shoulder,  breast,  abdomen,  back, 
and  upper  part  of  thigh. 


SENSATION.  31 

(3)  The  susceptibility  of  the  sense  of  touch  to  education 
is  very  great,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  attainments  of  those 
who  are  born  blind,  the  proficiency  they  attain  in  reading 
by  touch,  etc.  As  a  knowledge-giving  sense,  it  stands  very 
high,  contributing  much  to  the  child's  first  knowledge  of 
the  external  world,  and,  together  with  sight  and  the  muscu- 
lar feelings,  to  his  first  comprehension  of  space  and  time 
relations.  It  aids  greatly  also  in  his  acquirement  of  the 
notion  of  self  —  this  probably  at  first  through  touching 
some  portion  of  his  own  body,  and  then  some  external 
thing,  and  feeling  a  difference  between  the  resulting  sensa- 
tions. But  even  before  active  touch  has  thus  begun,  the 
foundations  of  the  child's  education  are  laid  in  passive  touch 
experiences,  which  from  the  beginning  not  only  yield  him 
pleasure  and  pain,  but,  being  more  frequent  as  well  as  more 
varied  in  their  operations,  contribute  earlier  and  more 
largely  than  any  of  the  other  sense  experiences  to  the 
development  of  his  faculties,  and  to  his  gradual  acquain- 
tanceship with  the  world  of  objects  by  which  he  is  sur- 
rounded.^ 

rV.   Taste. 

According  to  Sigismund,  taste  is  the  first  of  all  the  senses 
to  yield  clear  perceptions,  to  which  memory  is  attached. 
Not  only  is  the  exercise  of  this  sense  connected  from  the 
first  with  the  child's  most  primitive  needs  and  their  satis- 
faction, but  it  is  more  than  probable  that,  even  in  the 
embryonic  stage,  taste  has  been  to  some  degree  aroused  by 
swallowing  the  amniotic  fluid. 

Numerous  careful  experiments  show  that  the  child  is 
capable  of   bona  fide  sensations  of   taste    in   the   earliest 

1  On  this  subject  see  Perez,  "Education  Morale  des  le  Berceau," 
Chap.  V. 


32  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

moments  of  life ;  and  that,  though  he  is  for  some  time  more 
obtuse  and  more  uncertain  in  this  respect  than  the  adult, 
yet  when  a  sapid  object  is  introduced  into  his  mouth,  the 
resulting  sensation  really  takes  place  by  way  of  the  gusta- 
tory bulbs  and  nerves,  and  is  not  merely  a  species  of  touch 
sensation,  as  some  have  held. 

Kussmaul  experimented  on  twenty  children,  during  the 
first  day  of  life  —  some  of  them  in  the  very  first  moments 
—  with  the  following  results:  Solutions  of  sugar  and  of 
quinine  being  introduced  into  the  mouth  by  means  of  a  hair 
pencil  —  the  mixture  being  warmed  so  that  the  feeling  of 
temperature  should  not  affect  the  result  —  the  children 
responded  with  "the  same  mimetic  movements  which  we 
designate  among  grown  people  as  the  facial  expressions  of 
sweet  and  bitter."  They  responded  to  the  sugar  by  pro- 
truding the  lips  in  a  spout-like  form,  pressing  the  tongue 
between  them,  sucking  and  swallowing.  On  the  contrary, 
when  the  quinine  was  introduced,  the  visage  was  distorted, 
the  eyes  closed,  the  tongue  protruded,  and  choking  move- 
ments were  made,  accompanied  by  the  expulsion  of  the  fluid 
and  active  secretion  of  saliva.  "  Sometimes  the  head  was 
actively  shaken,  as  in  the  case  of  grown  people  when 
attacked  by  nausea."  These  results  were  obtained  also  in 
premature  children,  showing  that  this  reflex  arc  is  capable 
of  performing  its  functions  before  birth.  He  adds,  however, 
that  he  found  great  individual  differences  among  children, 
some  being  far  less  responsive  than  others.  Sometimes 
also  the  children  seemed  to  make  a  mistake  at  first,  as  they 
occasionally  responded  to  sugar  by  the  mimetic  movement 
for  bitter,  but  this  was  probably  only  surprise  at  the  new 
sensation,  as  they  very  soon  changed  it  for  the  correct  ex- 
pression. He  found  also  by  these  experiments  that  only  the 
tip  and  edges  of  the  tongue  represent  the  tasting  compass, 
the  middle  of  the  back  part  yielding  no  sensations  of  taste. 


SENSATION.  33 

Genzmer,  experimenting  on  twenty-five  children,  most  of 
whom  were  just  born,  obtained  results  substantially  agreeing 
with  those  of  Kussmaul.  He  noticed,  however,  that  in 
many  cases  the  introduction  of  an  attenuated  solution  of 
quinine  was  responded  to  by  sucking  movements,  while 
stronger  solutions  were  rejected  with  the  mimetic  for 
"bitter,"  showing  that  taste  sensibility  is  weaker  at  this 
age  than  in  the  adult.  ^ 

Preyer  agrees  with  the  above  deductions  in  every  respect, 
and  adds:  "It  is  certain  from  all  observations  that  the 
newly-born  distinguish  the  sensations  of  taste  that  are 
decidedly  different  from  one  another, —  the  sweet,  sour  and 
bitter."  His  boy,  on  the  first  day  of  life,  licked  pow- 

dered cane  sugar,  whereas  he  licked  nothing  else.  Later, 
on  receiving  a  strange  food,  he  often  shuddered  and  dis- 
torted his  face  merely  on  account  of  the  novelty  of  the  sen- 
sation, for,  in  the  case  of  an  agreeable  sensation,  he  directly 
afterwards  desired  it,  and  received  it  with  an  expression  of 
satisfaction.  He  concludes  that  the  association  of  certain 
mimetic  contractions  of  muscles  with  certain  sensations  of 
taste  is  inborn. 

The  development  of  taste-perception  in  the  infant  is  in- 
teresting and  important.  The  pleasures  and  pains  of  taste 
play  a  large  part  in  his  early  education.  The  mouth  is 
soon  made  the  test  organ  to  which  all  objects  are  carried, 
and  by  which  their  qualities  are  ascertained.  Preyer's  boy, 
on  the  second  day,  took  without  hesitation  cow's  milk 
diluted  with  water,  which,  on  the  fourth  day,  he  stoutly 
refused.  During  his  sixth  month,  he  began  to  refuse  to 
take  the  breast  (which  was  offered  him  only  in  the  night), 
because  the  sweetened  cow's  milk,  which  he  had  taken  in 


1  These  results  are  corroborated  also  by  Kroner,  Fehling  and  several 
others. 


S4  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

the  daytime,  was  somewhat  sweeter.  From  this  time 
onward,  and  especially  after  weaning,  his  discrimination 
became  much  nicer,  and  by  the  fourth  and  fifth  years  he 
had  become  so  "fastidious"  that  even  the  sight  of  certain 
articles  of  diet  would  call  forth  from  him  the  mimetic 
movements  for  nau.sea,  choking,  etc. 

Perez  says  the  sense  of  taste  is  very  slightly  developed  in 
tlie  new-born,  yet  it  exists.  A  child  observed  by  him  dis- 
tinguished milk  from  sweetened  water,  and  sweetened  water 
from  plain  water,  by  the  taste.  Yet  there  are  great  differ- 
ences of  gustatory  sensitiveness  among  children.  In  some 
cases,  a  child  of  six  months  has  been  induced  to  take  bitter 
medicine  by  a  change  in  the  color.  On  the  other  hand,  a 
child  of  two  and  a  half  months  refused  its  bottle  because  the 
milk  was  not  sweetened.  Most  children  begin  very  early 
to  detect  the  acid  taste  in  certain  substances.'^ 

Yet  in  general,  children's  tastes  change  very  easily,  and 
hence  are  highly  susceptible  to  education  in  almost  every 
direction.  IVIoreover,  there  are  differences  in  the  same  child 
at  different  times :  the  state  of  the  health,  the  temperature 
of  the  food  (which,  according  to  Champneys,  is  of  more 
consequence  than  the  taste  itself),  and  many  other  circum- 
stances entering  in  to  disturb  the  gustatory  equilibrium. 


V.    Smell. 

Taste  and  smell  are  so  closely  associated  that  they  might 
almost  be  considered  together.  The  savour  of  substances 
depends,  to  a  large  extent,  on  their  odor.  These  senses 
resemble  each  other  in  the  comparative  diffuseness  of  their 
perceptions,  and  in  the  fact  that  their  sensations  are  more 


1  Dr.  Brown  thinks  this  is  the  first  taste  to  be  recognized. 


SENSATION.  35 

persistent,  and,  therefore,  less  clearly  distinguishable  suc- 
cessively than  those  of  the  higher  senses. 

In  order  to  sensations  of  smell,  there  must  be  air  in  the 
nasal  cavities ;  hence  there  can  be  no  exercise  of  this  sense 
before  respiration  begins ;  none,  therefore,  before  the  begin- 
ning of  the  post-natal  life. 

Careful  tests  upon  new-born  children,  however,  show  that 
they  are  susceptible  to  strong  odors  in  the  first  hours  of  life. 
Records  are  at  hand  of  tests  made  on  about  fifty  children, 
most  of  whom  were  less  than  a  day,  some  only  fifteen  min- 
utes old.  The  tests  were  made  with  asafoetida,  aqua  foetida, 
and  oleum  dipelli.  Care  was  taken  to  experiment  on  sleep- 
ing as  well  as  waking  children,  in  order  to  avoid  mistakes 
in  interpreting  the  gestures  and  facial  expressions.  The 
result  was  that  the  children  became  uneasy,  knit  the  eyelids 
more  firmly  together,  contracted  the  muscles  of  the  face, 
moved  the  head  and  arms,  and,  finally,  awoke,  sometimes 
even  with  crying.  On  the  removal  of  the  odor,  they  would 
fall  asleep  again.  These  results  were  also  obtained  in  the 
case  of  eight  months  children,  but  not  on  those  of  a  still 
more  premature  birth. 

With  the  child's  growth,  progress  is  normally  made  in 
power  of  discrimination  by  the  sense  of  smell,  though  more 
slowly  than  in  the  case  of  the  higher  senses.  A  little  girl 
of  eighteen  hours  obstinately  refused  a  nipple  on  which  a 
little  petroleum  had  been  rubbed,  but  readily  took  the  other. 
Another  child  refused  cow's  milk  lohen  it  tvas  brought  near 
him.  Another,  at  thirteen  days,  refused  certain  medicines, 
being  guided  solely  by  their  odor.  Decisive  discrimination 
of  pleasant  from  unpleasant  odors,  with  rejection  of  the 
latter,  and  appreciation  of  the  former,  has  been  observed  in 
numerous  instances  from  the  early  part  of  the  second  month 
on;  and  during  the  second  half  of  the  first' year,  this  dis- 
crimination has  become,  with  some  children,  very  marked 


36  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

indeed,  a  lively  enjoyment  of  the  scent  of  flowers  often 
being  noticeable  from  this  time  on. 

With  all  this,  however,  the  sense  of  smell  is  far  less  acute 
in  children  than  in  adults.  They  often  appear  unaffected 
by  odors  which  would  be  exceedingly  unpleasant  to  the 
grown  person.  Further,  their  sensibility  to  smells  very 
quickly  becomes  blunted  by  repetition  or  continuance,  as  is 
the  case,  to  a  less  degree,  with  all  persons.  When  the 
experiments  with  asafoetida,  etc.,  described  above,  were 
repeated,  no  responses  could  be  elicited  after  the  first  or 
second  trial.  Even  after  the  child  has  become  keenly  ap- 
preciative of  odors,  he  seems  utterly  to  lack  that  dexterity 
in  the  management  of  the  organ  which  is  so  noticeable  in 
the  case  of  taste.  Children  well  on  in  the  second  year  of 
life  may  be  observed  to  carry  a  fragrant  flower  to  the 
mouth  —  and  even  into  it  —  instead  of  to  the  nose.  The 
same  awkwardness  is  seen  in  the  management  of  the  breath. 
When  learning  to  smell,  they  invariably  .exhale  with  great 
vigor  at  first,  but  require  considerable  practice  before  they 
can  inhale  the  odors. 

Man  seems  greatly  inferior  to  many  of  the  lower  animals 
in  regard  to  smell.  A  kitten,  three  days  old,  "  spat "  at  a 
hand  which  had  been  licked  by  a  dog  —  a  remarkable 
instance  of  the  persistence  and  transmission  of  what  Mr. 
Darwin  calls  "serviceable  associated  movements."  The 
keenness  of  scent  in  dogs  and  horses,  and  many  wild  ani- 
mals, is  proverbial.  In  man,  on  the  other  hand,  this  sense 
stands  very  low  in  the  knowledge-giving  scale.  Even  in 
mature  life,  it  gives  but  little  information  respecting  the 
external  world,  and  that  of  an  uncertain  character.  In  the 
child,  it  is  concerned  chiefly  with  the  recognition  of  food. 
But  it  may  well  be  that  if  this  sense  were  brought  into  as 
constant  requisition  as  the  sense  of  sight  or  hearing,  and  as 
much  care  bestowed  upon  its   education,  very  important 


SENSATION.  37 

results  might  take  place  in  tlie  way  of  developing  a  smell- 
sensibility.^ 

VI.    Temperature. 

There  are  two  classes  of  thermic  sensations :  1st,  passive, 
subjective  and  general,  as  when  we  say  "  I  am  cold  "  or  "  I 
am  warm."  2nd,  active,  objective  and  local,  as  when  we 
touch  a  hot  or  cold  object  and  pronounce  it  hot  or  cold. 
Both  are  important  in  the  child's  development,  but  the 
second  sort  lends  itself  to  experiment  more  readily  than 
the  first. 

The  sense  of  temperature  should  not  be  confounded  with 
the  sense  of  touch;  for,  though,  like  touch,  it  is  universal, 
having  its  end  organs  scattered  all  over  the  body,  yet  the 
feeling  in  the  one  case  is  quite  distinct  from  that  in 
the  other. 

With  regard  to  the  possibility  of  sensations  of  tempera- 
ture prior  to  birth,  Luys  expresses  himself  as  follows :  "  We 
know  indeed  that  from  this  period  (the  fourth  month  of 
pregnancy)  the  foetus  is  sensitive  to  the  action  of  cold,  and 
that  we  can  develop  its  spontaneous  movements  by  applying 
a  cold  hand  to  the  abdomen  of  the  mother."  Perez  also  is 
of  the  opinion  that  the  foetus  experiences  certain  cutano- 
thermal  sensations  from  about  this  time.  Preyer  takes  the 
opposite  ground,  arguing  for  the  homogeneity  of  the  uterine 
temperature,  and  the  consequent  absence  of  any  possibility 
of  comparing  sensations. 

At  all  events,  in  the  newly-born,  the  sense  of  warmth  and 
cold  develops  very  promptly.  The  gradual  cooling,  on  com- 
ing into  contact  with  the  external  world,  the  atmosphere, 

1  Mantegazza  complaius  that  we  aid  our  eyes  with  spectacles,  micro- 
scopes and  telescopes,  and  our  ears  with  trumpets,  while  the  nose  is 
entirely  neglected.     "  Die  Hygiene  der  Sinne." 


38  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF   CHILDHOOD. 

the  clothing,  the  bath, —  all  contribute  to  the  speedy  differ- 
entiation of  thermic  sensations,  and  to  the  perception  of 
temperature.  Genzmer,  in  experimenting  upon  abovit  twenty 
new-born  children,  found  that  there  was  active  withdrawal 
of  the  parts  —  palm  of  hand,  sole  of  foot,  cheek,  etc.  —  to 
which  the  cold  object  was  applied.  His  experiments  are 
not  entirely  satisfactory,  however,  since  sufficient  care  was 
not  taken  to  exclude  touch  sensations  from  participating. 

Satisfactory  observations  as  to  the  development  of  the 
temperature  sense  are  very  scarce.  Preyer  found  that  the 
warm  bath  was  enjoyed  almost  from  the  first,  but  the  cold 
bath  was  disliked  until  the  child  learned  by  experience  its 
refreshing  effects.  The  lips,  tongue  and  mucous  membrane 
of  the  mouth  were  surprisingly  sensitive  to  warmth  and 
cold,  even  in  the  first  days.  The  child  would  refuse  milk 
of  a  temperature  only  slightly  higher  or  lower  than  that  of 
the  mother.  Still,  on  the  whole,  the  infant  suffers  less 
from  extremes  of  temperature  than  the  adult,  in  whose  case 
the  faculty  of  judgment  enters  to  aggravate  the  sensation. 

An  interesting  point  in  this  connection  is  the  gradual 
variation  between  the  "neutral  point"  in  the  tongue  and 
cavity  of  the  mouth,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  external  parts, 
such  as  the  hand,  on  the  other.  In  the  former  it  remains 
through  life  almost  the  same  as  before  birth,  while  in  the 
latter  it  gradually  lowers  by  contact  with  the  surrounding 
medium. 

VII.    Organic  Sensations. 

By  this  is  usually  meant  those  comparatively  vague  and 
general  feelings  of  comfort  and  discomfort  arising  from  cer- 
tain conditions  of  the  viscera,  as  distinguished  from  defi- 
nitely located  feelings  resulting  from  excitation  of  the  special 
sense  organs.     Hunger  and  thirst  may  serve  as  examples  of 


SENSATION.  39 

visceral  discomfort,  and  the  feeling  of  satiety  that  follows 
the  taking  of  nourishment  as  an  example  of  visceral  comfort. 
We  shall  also  consider  here  feelings  of  pain  in  general, 
"whether  produced  by  external  or  internal  stimuli. 

The  question  of  the  possibility  of  pain  experiences  before 
birth  may  perhaps  be  considered  settled  by  Preyer's  investi- 
gations on  foetal  guinea  pigs  and  dogs  (see  "  Physiology  of 
the  Embryo").  He  obtained  reactions  which  showed  this 
sensibility  to  be  present.  The  reactions,  however,  were 
very  much  slower  than  in  the  subsequent  stages  of  life; 
showing  either  that  the  sensibility  to  pain  is  much  lower  in 
the  foetal  stage  than  subsequently,  or  that  pain  reflexes  are 
not  firmly  established  at  this  time.  Other  investigators 
have  found  indeed  that  in  the  case  of  the  very  immature 
foetus,  the  prick  of  a  pin  produced  no  response,  although  in 
the  mature  child,  distinct  reactions  took  place,  by  cries  and 
movements,  to  strong  mechanical  or  electrical  stimulation. 

The  fact  that  the  new-born  child  is  capable  of  pleasure 
and  pain  also  corroborates  the  view  that  his  physiological 
apparatus  is  already  adjusted  before  birth  to  this  sort  of 
experience. 

Kussmaul  has  made  some  observations  which  go  to  show 
that  very  soon  after  birth,  from  the  sixth  hour  on,  but  vary- 
ing much  in  different  children,  the  infant  *'  is  accustomed  to 
betray  distinctly  that  it  is  visited  by  a  sensation  which  we 
must  interpret  as  hunger  or  thirst,  probably  a  mixture  of 
both."  This  feeling  is  expressed  by  uneasy  motions  of  the 
head  and  hands,  sucking  movements,  and  crying.  One  child, 
in  the  sixth  hour  of  her  life,  would  turn  her  head  with  sur- 
prising quickness,  first  to  one  side  and  then  to  the  other,  in 
order  to  take  into  the  mouth  and  suck  the  finger  with  which 
the  observer  stroked  her  on  each  side  of  her  face  in  succes- 
sion, though  he  took  care  that  in  stroking  the  finger  should 
not  touch  her  lips. 


40  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

Preyer  observes  that  hunger  and  thirst  assert  themselves 
in  sucking  movements  from  the  first.  Very  soon  the  cry  of 
hunger  is  distinguishable  from  the  cry  of  pain,  being  car- 
ried on  with  more  intervals  and  in  a  loAver  tone,  while  the 
tongue  is  held  in  a  peculiar  manner,  being  drawn  back  and 
spread  out.  The  hungry  infant  he  also  observed  to  move 
its  head  from  side  to  side  in  a  way  not  seen  in  any  other 
circumstances.  Gradually  the  child  becomes  relatively  less 
absorbed  in  the  satisfaction  of  hunger.  From  the  fifth 
month,  he  can  be  diverted  from  eating  by  new  noises  and 
movements.  From  the  tenth  month,  his  eating  is  not  so 
hurried  and  greedy.  This  is  partly  owing  to  the  fact  that 
at  this  age  he  takes  more  food  at  a  time,  the  stomach  being 
very  much  larger  than  at  first. 

For  the  rest,  but  few  observations  have  been  made.  The 
child  experiences  organic  sensations  of  pleasure  and  pain 
(the  pain  possibly  predominating  in  the  earliest  period)  in 
connection  with  the  digestive,  respiratory  and  circulatory 
processes :  pleasure  in  their  normal  functioning,  pain  when 
the  organs  are  fatigued  or  diseased.  Pleasures  in  general 
are  expressed  by  the  widely  open  and  "  swimming  "  eyes,  by 
the  smile, —  which,  according  to  Darwin,  occurred  for  the 
first  time  as  a  real  senile  on  the  forty-fifth  day, — and  by 
"crowing,"  joyful  tones  of  voice;  pains  by  tightly  closed 
eyes,  mouth  drawn  down  at  the  corners,  and  later  by  the 
quadrangular  form  of  the  mouth  in  crying,  while  the  cry 
itself  varies  according  to  the  cause.  The  child  is  much 
more  easily  fatigued  than  the  adult,  and  during  the  first  few 
days  passes  most  of  the  time  in  sleep. 

VIII.    MuscuLAJ?  Feelings. 

We  assume  that  in  the  normal  condition  all  muscular 
movements  are  accompanied  by  muscular  feelings.     It  is  a 


SENSATION.  41 

sort  of  "internal  toucli"  spread  all  over  the  body,  and 
intimately  associated  with  locomotion  and  prehension,  with 
expansion  and  contraction,  with  pressure,  weight,  resist- 
ance, etc.  It  also  includes  the  "  feeling  of  the  state  of  the 
muscles  when  at  rest."  So  closely  connected  with  the 
child's  activity,  its  bearing  on  the  rise  of  will  is  obvious. 

That  the  child's  muscles  are  called  into  play  during  the 
later  months  of  his  ante-natal  life,  in  a  great  variety  of 
movements,  is  so  fully  established  as  to  require  here  only  a 
passing  word.  It  has  been  supposed  by  some  that  the  foetus 
is  incited  to  muscular  movements  by  the  tedium  of  his 
unchanged  position.  It  seems  better,  however,  to  suppose 
that  now,  as  at  a  later  time,  there  is  an  instinctive  necessity 
for  movement.  The  child  is  exceedingly  active.  To  move 
his  muscles  is  for  him  an  absolute  necessity,  and  the  wisest 
methods  in  child  training  are  those  which  recognize  this 
fact,  and,  instead  of  repressing  his  activity,  direct  it  into 
the  best  channels. 

Though  muscular  feelings  are  present  thus  early,  they  are 
probably  very  vaguely  apprehended  by  the  child  during  the 
first  month  of  his  life.  By  the  end  of  the  third  month, 
however,  a  vast  number  of  these  feelings  have  become  asso- 
ciated with  visual  sensations,  by  means  of  coordinated 
movements  of  the  neck,  arms  and  eyes.  About  this  time 
also  begins  the  discernment  of  weight,  though  the  apprecia- 
tion and  comparison  of  different  weights  are  probably  later 
attainments.  The  healthy  child  experiences  the  keenest 
pleasure  in  the  exercise  of  his  muscles.  One  observed  case 
may  stand  for  many.  A  little  boy,  in  his  fourth  month, 
was  observed  to  hold  his  toy  rabbit  up  by  the  ears,  crowing 
proudly,  in  evident  enjoyment  of  the  effort.  It  is  likely, 

as  Ferrier  says,  that  the  muscular  feeling  of  effort,  by  which 
weignt  is  discerned,  is  first  discriminated  in  connection  with 
the  movements  of  respiration. 


42  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

From  about  the  middle  of  the  first  year,  the  healthy  child 
develops  a  remarkable  propensity  to  seize,  lift,  pull,  and 
otherwise  handle  all  objects  that  come  within  his  reach. 
This  is  to  be  attributed  partly  to  natural  curiosity,  but  more 
particularly  at  this  early  period  to  the  constitutional  need 
of  exercising  the  muscles,  to  which  he  yields  almost  uncon- 
sciously. As  soon  as  he  is  able  to  walk,  the  range  of  his 
muscle-activity  is  vastly  extended,  and  from  this  time  forth, 
his  experiences  in  this  connection  play  a  large  and  important 
part  in  his  education.^ 


1  For  further  remarks  on  muscular  movement,  vide  infra,  Chap.  IV. 


CHAPTER   II. 

INTELLECT. 

Most  of  the  phenomena  described  in  the  preceding  pages 
involve  thought  in  a  greater  or  less  degree;  yet  in  the 
earliest  experiences,  mental  activity  is  at  a  minimum;  the 
affective  predominates  over  the  presentative,  and  the  repre- 
sentative occupies  but  a  very  small  place.  Yet  it  seems 
incorrect  to  say,  with  Nasse,  that  "  mind  comes  first  at  birth, 
and  the  first  breath  is  the  earliest  mark  of  intellect ; "  or 
with  Heyfelder,  that  the  first  cry  is  the  sign  of  awakening 
mind;  or  with  Karl  Vogt,  that  the  newly-born  possesses  no 
trace  of  intelligence.  Kussmaul  seems  nearer  the  truth  in 
the  following :  "  It  cannot  be  doubted  that  man  comes  into 
the  world  with  an  idea  —  a  dark  one  to  be  sure  —  of  an  outer 
something,  with  a  certain  idea  of  space,  with  the  possibility 
of  localizing  certain  touch  sensations,  and  with  a  certain 
mastery  over  his  movements.  How  can  it  otherwise  be 
explained  that  the  hungry  child,  before  it  is  suckled,  not 
only  seeks  nourishment,  but  seeks  it  in  that  region  where 
its  sense  of  touch  during  the  search  is  actively  excited? 
These  astonishing  actions  can  only  be  comprehended  under 
the  following  suppositions :  First,  that  the  child  has  already 
gained  the  dim  idea  of  an  outer  something  which  is  able  to 
remove  the  unpleasant  sensation  of  hunger  or  thirst,  and 
which,  to  that  end,  must  come  through  the  mouth;  secondly, 
that  he  is  able  to  decide  the  place  from  which  the  sensation 
of  stroking  came;  and  thirdly,  that  he  has  already  learned 

43 


44  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

to  turn  the  head  voluntarily  to  the  one  side  or  to  the 
other." 

It  is  not  possible,  within  the  present  limits,  either  to  give 
a  detailed  exposition  of  the  nature  of  the  thought  process, 
or  to  trace  the  intellectual  development  on  into  the  maturer 
years.  For  these  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  numerous 
standard  works  on  psychology  in  general.  Here  we  can  only 
attempt  to  collate  facts  calculated  to  throw  light  on  the  first 
budding  of  the  intelligence,  and  to  trace  each  phenomenon 
only  to  that  stage  at  which  it  may  be  said  to  be  fairly 
"under  way."  The  intimate  relation  between  thought  and 
language  also  makes  it  advisable  to  postpone  much  that 
might  be  said  here,  until  we  come  to  the  consideration  of  the 
latter  topic. ^ 

Observation  of  intellectual  development  is  hampered  by 
two  difficulties,  which  render  great  caution  necessary.  In 
the  first  place,  the  combined  influence  of  heredity  and 
environment  produces  such  wide  individual  differences 
among  children,  that  no  general  conclusions  can  be  safely 
expressed  until  a  very  large  number  of  cases  have  been 
observed.  (Certainly  nothing  exhaustive  or  final  can  be  said 
at  the  present  time.)  In  the  second  place,  even  the  most 
careful  observer,  watching  one  child,  is  apt  to  be  misled  by 
,  certain  deceptive  appearances,  and  to  give  the  child  credit 
1  for  a  good  deal  that  he  does  not  really  know.  "  They  do 
clever  things,  and  say  brilliant  words,  by  imitation  and 
accident,   not  knowing   the   meaning   of   them."      In  this 


iThe  relation  of  thought  and  language  has  perhaps  never  been 
more  aptly  expressed  than  by  Sir  W.  Hamilton  in  the  following: 
"  Language  is  to  the  mind  precisely  what  the  arch  is  to  the  tunnel. 
The  power  of  thinking  and  the  power  of  excavation  are  not  dependent 
on  the  word  in  the  one  case,  nor  on  the  mason  work  in  the  other ;  but 
without  these  subsidiaries  neither  process  could  be  carried  on  beyond 
its  rudimentary  commencement."    Lectures,  Vol.  8,  p.  138. 


INTELLECT.  45 

way  many  a  child,  supposed  to  be  a  prodigy,  does  not  at  all 
excel  others,  except  in  a  quickness  of  imitation.  When  you 
want  him  to  "show  off,"  he  fails  you,  simply  because  the 
words  do  not  mean  the  same  to  him  as  they  do  to  you,  and 
his  use  of  them  is  largely  mechanical.^  The  child's  act  may 
resemble  ours  outwardly,  but  the  sentiment  underneath  the 
act  may  be  very  different.  G.  S.  Hall  says :  "  Not  only  are 
children  prone  to  imitate  others  in  their  answers,  without 
stopping  to  think  and  give  an  independent  answer  of  their 
own,  but  they  often  love  to  seem  wise,  and,  to  make  them- 
selves interesting,  state  what  seems  to  interest  us  without 
reference  to  truth,  divining  the  lines  of  our  interest  with  a 
subtlety  we  do  not  suspect."  In  interpreting  the  phenomena 
here  recorded,  great  care  is  necessary  to  avoid  an  inaccurate 
estimate  of  their  intellectual  value. 


I.    Perception. 


/ 


In  the  process  of  perception  —  which  may  be  simply 
defined  as  "that  act  of  the  mind  by  which  real  external 
things  become  known  through  the  senses"  — there  are 
three  stages,  distinguished  from  each  other  qualitatively, 
though  not  chronologically.  First,  the  simple  feelings  of 
the  senses  are  differentiated.  Changes,  quantitative  and 
qualitative,  are  felt  and  known.  The  child  recognizes  the 
difference  between  a  sweet  taste  and  a  bitter  one,  for 
example.  He  could  not  describe  the  difference  even  if  he 
could  speak,  but  is  simply  aivare  of  it.  Secondly,  the  sensa- 
tions are  localized.  A  definite  "whereness"  is  attributed 
to  them.     This  involves  the  recognition  of  space  properties 

1  As  Roiisseau  says  in  Emile :  "  Un  instant  vous  diriez :  C'est  un 
gfenie,  et  I'instant  d'apr^s :  C'est  un  sot.  Vous  vous  tromperiez 
toujours:  C'est  un  enfant.''^ 


46  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

in  objects,  and  opens  up  the  vexed  question  of  the  origin  of 
the  idea  of  space,  into  which  we  cannot  enter  here.  Thirdly, 
the  manifold  of  sensation,  thus  differentiated  and  localized, 
is  unified  into  a  permanent  whole,  which  we  call  the  object. 
The  child  combines  the  scattered  sensations,  visual,  tactual, 
olfactory,  and  sapid,  into  the  perceived  object,  food. 

Taste  Perceptions. — "The  first  centre  of  the  child's 
psychic  life  is  the  mouth."  Probably  the  first  action  is 

sucking,  and  later  all  objects  are  experimented  upon  by 
means  of  the  lips  and  hands  together.  But  even  in  the 
third  month,  the  child  is  weak  in  power  of  comparison,  and 
will  suck  an  empty  bottle  as  readily  as  a  full  one,  until  he 
finds  it  is  empty  by  failure  to  extract  anything  from  it. 
From  the  eighth  day,  a  wry  face  was  made  at  the  sight  of 
bitter  medicine,  and  by  the  seventh  week  this  wry  face  was 
accompanied  by  a  gesture  of  refusal.  At  one  month  and 
five  days,  a  dose  of  medicine  was  taken  with  visible  repug- 
nance. The  experiments  of  Kussmaul,  already  referred 
to,  show  that  discrimination  between  tastes  takes  place  from 
the  first.  It  proceeds,  generally,  with  considerable  rapidity 
from  the  third  month  on,  and  by  the  tenth  month  various 
articles  of  diet  are  clearly  known  and  distinguished  from 
one  another.  Yet  the  child,  like  the  adult,  though  in  a 
greater  degree,  is  subject  to  illusions  of  taste,  through  con- 
fusion of  sapid  with  olfactory  sensations,  and  with  one 
another. 

Sight  Perceptions.  —  During  the  first  month,  the  child 
gives  small  evidence  that  he  has  any  ideas  of  distance,  or 
of  his  own  body.  At  this  age  he  will  strike  or  scratch  his 
own  face.  A  girl  of  thirty  days  *'  seemed  for  an  instant  to 
have  caught  the  reflected  image  of  herself,"  but  the  next 
moment  she  became  lost  again  in  the  surrounding  objects  of 


INTELLECT.  47 

the  nursery.  A  boy,  during  his  second  month,  gave  the 

first  sign  of  distinguishing  external  objects  from  himself, 
by  reaching  forward  and  grasping  at  them.  About  the  same 
time  he  began  apparently  to  pay  attention  to  the  looks  and 
gestures  of  others,  and  at  six  months  he  distinguished  per- 
sons, without,  however,  having  any  clear  ideas  about  them. 
When  anything  presented  itself  to  him,  he  pointed  his  finger 
at  it,  to  direct  attention  to  it,  and  sometimes  said  ah. 
From  the  beginning  of  his  second  year,  he  rapidly  advanced 
in  power  of  discrimination,  though  chiefly  among  objects 
fitted  to  satisfy  his  needs.  One  of  the  objects  earliest  to  be 
recognized  —  if  not  the  very  earliest  —  is  the  mother's  face 
and  form.  Children  give  evidence  of  this  recognition  in  the 
second  or  third  month.  A  boy  of  seven  months  "surely 
recognized  three  persons, "  —  his  parents  and  the  nurse. 
Another,  at  nine  weeks,  seemed  to  know  his  mother.  No 

objects,  not  even  the  parents,  are  known  at  a  distance. 
In  the  course  of  the  first  half-year,  much  improvement  takes 
place  in  this  direction.     A  child  in  his  fifth  month  would 
no  longer  grasp  at  objects  beyond  his  reach.  Smiling  at 

the  image  in  the  mirror  has  been  noticed  as  early  as  the 
ninth  week. 

"  From  the  sensations  of  hearing  and  smell,  there  can  be 
formed  no  representations  in  the  first  week."  Near  the 

end  of  the  second  month,  one  child  gave  evidence  that  he 
distinguished  between  tones  of  voice  expressive  of  different 
emotions  and  sentiments.  He  allowed  himself  to  be  pacified 
by  gentle  tones.  Another,  in  his  third  month,  actively 

sought  the  direction  of  sound  by  turning  his  head. 

Owing  to  the  weakness  of  the  attention,  and  lack  of 
experience,  the  young  child  falls  into  many  illusions  of 
sense-perception.  A  child  of  four  months  believes  the 
image  in  the  mirror  is  a  real  person,  as  is  shown  by  his  sur- 
prised look  when  he  hears  behind  him  the  voice  of  the 


48  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

individual  to  whom  the  reflection  belongs.  A  boy  of 

seven  months  put  out  both  hands  to  pick  up  a  very  small 
piece  of  paper.  At  six  months  he  mistook  a  flat  dish  for 

a  globe,  and  seemed  to  believe  all  objects  had  bulk.  The 
little  girl  F.  tried  one  day  to  "  pick  up  "  a  round  picture, 
which  was  made  to  represent  raised  work,  and  another  day 
she  tried  to  walk  on  the  water.  I  once  heard  a  little  girl 
of  one  year  and  a  half  call  the  moon  a  lamp,  showing  how 
false  was  her  idea  of  its  real  distance  and  magnitude. 

Children  are  said  to  be  peculiarly  subject  to  illusions  of 
hearing,  though  I  have  no  examples  to  give.  The  imper- 
fection of  their  judgments  by  the  muscular  sense  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  a  child  of  three  months  cannot  tell  a  full 
bottle  from  an  empty  one,  by  the  weight  alone. 


II.    Memory. 


V 


The  power  of  retaining  impressions,  and  recognizing  them 
when  reproduced,  has  a  physiological  as  well  as  a  psycho- 
logical aspect;  the  former  consisting  chiefly  in  the  suscep- 
tibility of  organic  structures  to  receive  impressions  which 
are  capable  of  a  greater  or  less  degree  of  permanency;  the 
latter  depending  principally  on  the  power  of  attention. 
Where  the  attention  is  actively  directed  towards  the  present 
sensation,  that  sensation  is  more  easily  and  more  surely 
reproduced  in  memory. 

Little  children  have  but  small  power  of  attention;  from 
the  psychological  side  therefore,  their  memories  are  weak. 
Nearly  all  the  experiences  of  the  first  two  years  of  life,  and 
the  vast  majority  of  those  of  the  next  four,  are  completely 
forgotten  by  most  people.-'     The  cerebral  structures  in  chil- 

1  "A  writer  in  a  recent  English  magazine  declares  that  her  own 
memory  began  at  sixteen  months."  M.  W.  Wright  in  Babyhood^ 
Feb.  1891. 


INTELLECT.  49 

dren,  however,  are  very  impressible,  so  that,  from  the 
physiological  point  of  view,  the  memory  of  childhood  is 
potentially,  at  least,  very  strong.  This  probably  accounts 
for  the  well-known  fact  that  those  experiences  of  childhood 
that  are  remembered,  are  more  firmly  fixed  and  persist 
longer  than  those  of  early  manhood  or  middle  age.  Let  the 
attention  of  a  little  child  —  which,  be  it  observed,  is  weak 
in  both  directions,  being  as  hard  to  withdraw  from  a  present 
sensation  as  it  is  to  direct  toivards  one  —  be  enchained  by 
some  startling  or  fascinating  experience,  and  an  impression 
is  made  on  his  plastic  mind,  which  can  never  be  effaced.^ 
Old  men  recall  the  events  of  fifty  years  ago  better  than 
those  of  last  year. 

The  little  child  is  capable  of  memories  long  before  he  has 
learned  to  speak.  A  little  boy,  six  months  old,  whose  hand 
had  been  slightly  burnt  by  a  hot  vase,  shrank  back  at  the 
sight  of  this  article  a  few  days  after.  Certain  faces,  too, 

are  recognized  by  children  of  this  age,  showing  that  they 
have  memory-images  of  them.  Strange  faces,  too,  are  known 
as  strange,  and  distinguished  from  familiar  ones;  but  the 
latter  are  not  yet  missed  when  absent.  Sigismund  gives 

an  interesting  case  of  memory  in  a  boy  about  eight  months 
old.  While  in  the  bath  he  tried  repeatedly  to  raise  himself 
up  by  the  edge  of  the  tub,  but  in  vain.  Finally  he  suc- 
ceeded by  grasping  a  handle,  near  which  he  accidentally 
fell.  Next  time  he  was  put  into  the  bath,  he  reached  out 
immediately  for  the  aforesaid  handle  and  raised  himself  up 
in  triumph.  Memory  of  persons  becomes  strong  by  the  end 
of  the  first  year.  A  child  of  this  age  recognized  her  nurse, 
after  six  days'  absence,  "with  sobs  of  joy."     A  boy  some- 

1  My  first  sight  of  a  locomotive  will  never,  I  believe,  be  effaced,  or 
even  bedimmed,  in  my  memory,  should  I  live  for  a  centiirj'.  To-day  I 
can  call  it  up  with  remarkable  vividness,  and  with  all  its  attendant 
circumstances  clearly  and  definitely  portrayed. 


50  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

what  younger  knew  his  father  after  four  days'  absence, 
while  another,  seven  months  old,  did  not  recognize  his  nurse 
after  four  weeks'  absence,  but  when  nineteen  months  old  he 
knew  his  father,  even  at  a  distance,  after  two  weeks'  separa- 
tion. Another  child,  four  months  old,  knew  his  nurse  after 
four  weeks,  and  at  ten  months  he  missed  his  parents,  and 
was  troubled  by  their  absence.  A  boy  of  twenty-three 
months  manifested  keen  delight  on  again  seeing  his  play- 
things after  an  interval  of  eleven  weeks;  and  when  a  year 
and  a  half  old,  was  greatly  disconcerted  one  day  when  sent 
to  carry  one  towel  to  his  mother,  where  he  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  carrying  two.  Darwin's  boy,  at  a  little  over 
three  years  of  age,  instantly  recognized  a  portrait  of  his 
grandfather,  "and  mentioned  a  whole  string  of  incidents 
which  occurred  at  their  last  meeting,  nearly  six  months 
previous,"  the  matter  not  having  been  mentioned  in  the 
meantime.  The  little  boy,  E,.,  recognized  a  young  lady  who 
lives  next  door,  after  a  few  weeks  of  absence.  He  also 
knew  me  after  nearly  three  weeks.  He  was  then  twenty- 
three  months  old. 

A  boy  one  year  and  a  half  old  heard  some  one  say  one  day 
that  another  boy  had  fallen  and  hurt  his  leg.  Some  days 
after,  the  second  boy  came  in,  whereupon  the  first  ran  up  to 
him,  exclaiming,  "Fall,  hurt  leg."  A  child  of  two  years, 
whose  mother  had  made  him  a  toy  sled  out  of  a  card,  on 
receiving  a  postal  card  at  the  door  some  days  after,  ran  with 
it  to  his  mother,  crying,"  Mama,  litten  "  (Schlitten,  sled). 

New  experiences  call  up  memories  of  old  experiences  by 
association,  and  in  this  way  events  that  occurred  prior  to 
the  period  of  learning  to  speak,  are  remembered  after  that 
time.  A  little  boy  of  my  acquaintance  related  the  following 
tale,  the  events  of  which  took  place  before  he  learned  to 
speak:  "Pussy  kime  on  table;  puli  Nonie  off  (i.e.,  Nonie 
pulled  her  off);  pussy  katch  Nonie  face,  hands  too."     This 


INTELLECT. 


61 


was  illustrated  by  gestures,  showing  the  process  of  scratch- 
ing. Another  boy,  three  years  old,  remembered  per- 
fectly well  and  would  imitate  his  own  awkward  attempts  at 
speaking. 

A  very  interesting  question  in  this  connection  is  this: 
Which  of  the  senses  furnishes  the  most  vivid  and  lasting 
memory-images?  The  first  impulse  would  probably  be  to 
attribute  the  preeminence  to  sight,  but  in  so  doing,  we  might 
make  a  mistake.  It  is  probable,  as  M.  Queyrat  seems  to 
think,  that  the  muscular  sense  is  of  paramount  importance 
here.  Children  are  full  of  action,  and  their  psychic  life 
is  bound  up  with  movement.  If  they  are  to  develop,  they 
must  do  something,  and  they  remember  what  they  do,  a 
thousand  times  better  than  what  is  told  or  shown  to  them. 
This  is  also  true  in  adult  life.  Many  persons  study  out 
loud.  We  remember  what  we  write,  better  than  what  we 
simply  read.  Pedagogy  is  now  recognizing  this  as  a  great 
principle  in  education,  and  the  whole  kindergarten  system 
is  based  upon  it. 

In  connection  with  hearing,  the  child  remembers  best 
some  connected  story  which  is  helped  out  by  gestures 
appealing  to  the  eye.  The  little  boy  C,  at  twenty-five 
months,  reproduced  after  his  own  fashion  the  story  of  Little 
Red  Riding  Hood  (having  heard  it  only  once,  and  that  the 
night  before)  with  abundant  gesture,  and  then  laughed  in 
great  glee. 

An  interesting  experiment  in  this  direction  is  reported 
by  Baldwin  in  Science  for  May  2nd,  1890.  The  child  was  six 
and  a  half  months  old.  Her  nurse  had  been  absent  three 
weeks.  On  returning  she  first  appeared  before  the  child 
without  speaking,  then  she  spoke  without  appearing.  In 
neither  case  was  she  recognized.  But  when  she  appeared 
again,  and  sang  a  familiar  nursery  rhyme,  the  child  recog- 
nized her  with  demonstrations  of  joy.      This  is  a  good 


62  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

example  of  the  "summation  of  stimuli,"  or  the  cooperation 
of  different  sensations,  reinforcing  each  other,  to  produce  a 
result  which  neither  could  accomplish  by  itself. 


III.   Association. 

Memory  and  imagination  proceed  in  accordance  with  the 
laws  of  association.  The  chief  of  these  are  resemblance, 
contiguity  and  contrast.  The  general  principle  of  associa- 
tion has  been  expressed  in  this  way:  "When,  for  any 
reason,  a  part  of  an  old  mental  movement  is  reinstated, 
there  is  a  tendency  for  the  whole  movement  to  reinstate 
itself."  The  physiological  under-structure  of  association 

scarcely  exists  at  birth,  but  gradually,  through  experience, 
dynamic  pathways  in  the  cerebral  substance  are  developed, 
constituting  an  associative  network,  connecting  the  various 
centres  with  one  another.  On  the  mental  side  an  increasing 
readiness  to  note  resemblances,  differences,  etc.,  and  to  note 
them  where  they  are  less  obvious,  is  developed  in  the  course 
of  experience. 

In  Mr.  Darwin's  opinion,  the  child  far  surpasses  the  lower 
animals  in  associative  power.  "The  facility  with  which 
associated  ideas  .  .  .  were  acquired,  seemed  to  me  by  far 
the  most  strongly  marked  of  all  the  distinctions  between 
the  mind  of  an  infant,  and  that  of  the  cleverest  full-grown 
dog  I  ever  saw." 

The  recorded  observations  on  this  point  show  great  in- 
dividual differences.  Champneys  saw  signs  of  association 
of  pleasurable  feelings  as  early  as  the  eighth  week,  when  the 
child  accompanied  a  smiling  expression  with  sucking  motions 
of  the  lips.  Tiedemann  thought  he  saw  traces  of  association 
on  the  eighteenth  day,  when  the  child  ceased  crying  and  put 
himself  into  the  attitude  for  taking  nourishment  when  a  soft 


INTELLECT.  53 

hand  came  into  contact  with  his  face.  Sully  observed  a 
similar  thing  at  ten  weeks.  Darwin,  on  the  contrary,  did 
not  notice  any  signs  of  associations  firmly  fixed  before  the 
fifth  month;  and  Taine  puts  it  as  late  as  the  tenth  month; 
while  Perez  believes  that  homogeneous  sensations  are,  by 
the  middle  of  the  first  month,  associated  to  such  a  point 
that  they  are  recognized  when  reproduced;  and  he  goes  on 
to  say  that  "  there  is  not  one  of  the  combinations  of  associa- 
tions, which  have  been  studied  so  carefully  by  psychologists, 
of  which  we  cannot  find  at  least  a  faint  foreshadowing  in  a 
child  of  six  or  seven  months." 

The  following  are  examples  of  association  by  contiguity: 
When  a  little  child's  hat  and  cloak  are  put  on,  or  he  is 
placed  in  his  carriage,  he  becomes  restless,  and  even  angry, 
if  not  immediately  taken  out.  This  has  been  observed  in 
children  less  than  half  a  year  old,  and  in  others  of  one 
year.  At  the  latter  age  the  association  is  much  stronger ; 

he  cannot  even  see  a  hat,  cloak  or  umbrella  without  mani- 
festing the  same  restlessness.  Probably  also,  as  Perez 
thinks,  we  may  see  in  the  child's  crying  for  food  on  the 
return  of  daylight  the  germ  of  association  by  succession, 
out  of  which  is  constructed  the  idea  of  time.  A  rudimen- 
tary notion  of  cause  and  effect  may  also  be  seen  in  the  babe 
of  half  a  year  or  thereabouts,  who,  having  been  once  burnt 
by  a  hot  object,  afterwards  draws  back  at  the  sight  of  it ; 
and  in  the  child,  who,  finding  a  peculiar  scratching  sound  to 
follow  the  passage  of  his  finger  nail  over  an  object,  repeats 
the  process  again  and  again,  until  he  has  clearly  established 
the  relation  between  the  motion  and  the  sound.  Con- 

tiguity in  the  form  of  coexistence  is  seen  in  the  following: 
At  seven  months,  the  person  of  the  nurse  was  associated 
with  the  sound  of  her  name ;  when  her  name  was  uttered, 
the  child  would  turn  round  and  look  for  her.  The  same 

thing  was  observed  in  another  child  five  months  old. 


54  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

Darwin's  boy,  at  nine  months,  associated  his  own  name 
with  his  image  in  the  mirror.  When  ten  months  old  he 
learned  that  an  object  which  caused  a  shadow  to  fall  on  the 
wall  in  front  of  him,  was  to  be  looked  for  behind.  When 
less  than  a  year  old,  it  was  sufficient  to  repeat  a  short  sen- 
tence two  or  three  times  at  intervals,  to  fix  firmly  in  his 
mind  some  associated  idea. 

•Eesemblance,  if  not  the  earliest,  is  certainly  among  the 
strongest  of  the  child's  associations.  Darwin's  child,  in  the 
second  half  of  his  first  year,  would  shake  his  head  and  say 
ah  to  the  coal-box,  to  water  spilt  on  the  floor,  and  to  such 
things  as  bore  a  resemblance  to  things  which  he  had  been 
taught  to  consider  dirty.  Another  boy,  nine  months  old,  on 
hearing  the  word  "  papa,"  would  hold  out  his  arms  to  another 
gentleman  who  resembled  his  father ;  and  a  little  girl  of 
this  age  knew  the  portrait  of  her  grandfather  as  it  hung  on 
the  wall.  Sigismund  says :  "  I  showed  my  boy  —  not  yet 
one  year  old  —  a  stuffed  woodcock,  and  said  'Vogel.'  He 
immediately  turned  his  eyes  to  another  part  of  the  room, 
and  looked  at  a  stuffed  owl  which  stood  there."  Taine's 
little  girl,  at  fifteen  months,  on  seeing  colored  pictures  of 
birds,  immediately  cried  out  koko,  which  was  her  name  for 
chicken.  The  little  boy,  C,  on  seeing  the  image  on  a  postal 
card,  at  once  made  a  peculiar  snuffing  noise,  which  his 
grandfather  was  in  the  habit  of  doing,  showing  that  he 
observed  a  resemblance  between  his  grandfather  and  the 
picture  on  the  card. 

For  resemblances  among  sounds,  children  in  general  have 
the  keenest  relish.  They  are  inveterate  punsters.  Ehymes 
and  alliterations  are  their  especial  delight.  They  will  catch 
the  faintest  link  of  resemblance  in  the  sounds  of  words. 
^^  Harry  O'Neil  is  nicknamed  Harry  Oatmeal,  .  .  .  October 
suggests  knocked  over,  and  from  do  re  me,  they  get  do  re 
you."  Mere  jingles,  tiresome  to  the  grown-up  person, 


INTELLECT.  55 

will  amuse  them  for  hours ;  such  as  "  Ene,  mene,  mine  mo, " 
etc.,  or,  "Dickory,  dickory,  dock,"  etc. 

When  the  child  learns  to  speak,  the  power  of  association 
by  resemblances,  in  his  mind,  is  exemplified  in  his  habit  of 
enlarging  the  denotation  of  words,  so  as  to  make  one  word 
do  duty  for  several  objects  which  resemble  each  other  in 
certain  respects.  The  discussion  of  this  will  be  resumed 
later  {infra,  Section  5  and  Chap.  V.). 

IV.   Imagination.  ^ 

There  are  two  species  of  imagination.  First,  the  passive, 
in  which,  without  the  exercise  of  active  attention,  or  any 
effort  of  will,  images  pass  and  repass,  arranging  and 
rearranging  themselves  in  the  phantasy.  This  is  exempli- 
fied in  dreams,  and  in  the  resuscitation  of  faded  memory 
images  in  the  waking  moments  by  the  laws  of  association. 
Secondly,  the  active  or  constructive  imagination,  in  which, 
by  an  effort  of  attention  and  will,  old  images  are  Avorked  up 
into  new  forms,  inanimate  objects  have  life  and  personality 
attributed  to  them,  and  curious  scenes  and  combinations  are 
produced  by  the  inventive  genius  of  the  person  imagining. 

With  regard  to  the  first,  Perez  says :  "  The  child,  hardly 
a  month  old,  who  recognizes  his  mother's  breast  at  a  very 
short  distance,  shows,  by  the  strong  desire  he  has  to  get  to 
it,  that  this  sight  has  made  an  impression  on  him,  and  that 
this  image  must  be  deeply  engraven  on  his  memory.  The 
child  who,  at  the  age  of  three  months,  turns  sharply  round 
on  hearing  a  bird  sing,  or  on  hearing  the  name  coco  pro- 
nounced, and  looks  about  for  the  bird  cage,  has  formed  a 
very  vivid  idea  of  the  bird  and  the  cage.  When,  a  little 
later,  on  seeing  his  nurse  take  her  cloak,  or  his  mother  wave 
her  umbrella,  he  shows  signs  of  joy,  and  pictures  to  himself 
a  walk  out  of  doors,  he   is   again  performing  a  feat  of 


5G  THE  PSTCnOLOGY   OF   CniLDHOOD. 

imagination.  In  like  manner,  when,  at  the  age  of  seven  or 
eight  months,  having  been  deceived  by  receiving  a  piece  of 
bread  instead  of  cake,  on  finding  out  the  trick,  he  throws 
the  bread  away  angrily,  we  feel  sure  that  the  image  of  the 
cake  must  be  very  clearly  imprinted  on  his  mind.  Finally, 
when  he  begins  to  babble  the  Avord  papa  at  the  sight  of  any 
man  whatever,  it  must  be  that  the  general  characteristics 
which  make  up  what  he  calls  papa  are  well  fixed  in  his 
imagination."  When  they  are  left  alone,  children  who  have 
acquired  the  word  "mamma,"  will  repeat  this  name  over 
and  over  again,  proving  the  presence  of  the  mother's  image 
in  the  imagination. 

One  of  the  most  significant  forms  of  the  passive  imagina- 
tion in  childhood  is  the  dream.  It  is  very  difficult  to  ascer- 
tain when  the  child  first  begins  to  dream,  and  this  for 
several  reasons.  The  child  who  can  talk,  will  "tell  his 
dreams,"  in  imitation  of  grown-up  people,  no  dream  having 
taken  place.  In  the  case  of  the  child  who  cannot  talk,  we 
have  very  little  reliable  information  to  go  upon.  But  there 
seems  no  reason  to  doubt  that  dreams  may  take  place  just  as 
soon  as  the  child's  waking  experiences  have  furnished  him 
with  clear  and  definite  sensations. 

As  for  the  constructive  imagination,  our  space  will  not 
admit  the  hosts  of  examples  that  might  be  given  of  the 
wonderful  fertility  of  children's  minds  in  this  respect. 
Their  little  wooden  toys  become  transformed  into  real  sol- 
diers, fighting  real  battles,  mighty  locomotives  drawing  long 
trains  of  heavily-laden  cars,  or  great  steamships  sailing  over 
unfathomable  oceans.  "  Given  a  few  broken  pieces  of  glass, 
a  flower,  a  fruit,  a  colored  string,  a  doll,  and  out  of  them 
the  baby  imagination  constructs  an  immeasurable  happi- 
ness." ^  Indeed  it  would  seem,  as  Jastrow  says,  that  the 

1  See  "The  Story  of  a  Sand  Pile,"  by  G.  S.  Hall,  in  Scribner^s 
Magazine  for  June,  1888. 


INTELLECT.  57 

function  of  toys  is  to  serve  as  "  lay  figures,  on  which  the 
child's  imagination  can  weave  and  drape  its  fancies." 
In  order  to  serve  this  purpose,  the  toy  does  not  need  to  be 
a  work  of  art.  "We  don't  like  buyed  dolls,"  says  little 
Budge,  in  "Helen's  Babies,"  and  in  so  saying,  he  seems  to 
voice  the  opinions  of  the  majority  of  children.  A  wax  doll 
is  a  nice  thing  to  have,  and  look  at  occasionally,  but  for 
real,  "sure  enough,"  every-day  play,  give  us  the  old  rag 
doll.i 

Children  in  their  plays  imagine  themselves  other  than 
they  are.  They  transform  themselves  into  kings  and 
queens,  professors  and  preachers,  fathers  and  mothers  and 
grandparents,  and  fulfill  all  the  functions  of  neighbors 
and  citizens  with  the  greatest  solemnity  and  dignity.  They 
surround  themselves  with  imaginary  personages,  and  carry 
on  imaginary  conversations. - 

I  shall  close  this  section  with  a  quotation.  "W.  W.  Newell, 
in  "  Games  and  Songs  of  American  Children,"  says : "  Observe 
a  little  girl  who  has  attended  her  mother  for  an  airing  in 
some  city  park.  The  older  person,  quietly  seated  beside 
the  footpath,  is  half  absorbed  in  reverie;  takes  little  notice 
of  passers-by,  or  of  neighboring  sights  or  sounds,  further 
than  to  cast  an  occasional  glance,  which  may  inform  her  of 


1  The  same  thing  holds  with  regard  to  pictures.  I  have  seen  a  copy 
of  a  German  picture-book  for  children,  which  is  almost  completely- 
lacking  in  artistic  excellence,  but  which  has  gone  through  one  hundred 
and  seventy-seven  editions.  A  movement  is  now  on  foot  in  Russia  to 
prohibit  the  importation  of  the  finely  finished  and  elegant  French  toys, 
on  the  ground  .that  they  leave  no  room  for  the  exercise  of  the  child's 
Imagination. 

2  "  One  of  the  greatest  pleasures  of  childhood  is  found  in  the  mys- 
teries which  it  hides  from  the  scepticism  of  the  elders,  and  works  up 
into  small  mythologies  of  its  own."  Holmes,  "The  Poet  at  the 
Breakfast  Table." 


58  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

the  child's  security.  The  other,  left  to  her  own  devices, 
wanders  contented  within  the  limited  scope,  incessantly 
prattling  to  herself;  now  climbing  an  adjoining  rock,  now 
flitting  like  a  bird  from  one  side  of  the  pathway  to  the  other. 
Listen. to  her  monologue,  flowing  as  incessantly  and  musi- 
cally as  the  bubbling  of  a  spring;  if  you  can  catch  enough 
to  follow  her  thought,  you  will  find  a  perpetual  romance 
unfolding  itself  in  her  mind.  Imaginary  persons  accom- 
pany her  footsteps ;  the  properties  of  a  childish  theatre  exist 
in  her  fancy;  she  sustains  a  conversation  in  three  or  four 
characters.  The  roughness  of  the  ground,  the  hasty  passage 
of  a  squirrel,  the  chirping  of  a  sparrow,  are  occasions  suffi- 
cient to  suggest  an  exchange  of  impressions  between  the 
unreal  figures  with  which  her  world  is  peopled.  If  she 
ascends,  not  without  a  stumble,  the  artificial  rockwork,  it  is 
with  the  expressed  solicitude  of  a  mother  who  guides  an 
infant  by  the  edge  of  a  precipice ;  if  she  raises  her  glance 
to  the  waving  green  overhead,  it  is  with  the  cry  of  pleasure 
exchanged  by  playmates  who  trip  from  home  on  a  sunshiny 
day.  The  older  person  is  confined  within  the  barriers  of 
memory  and  experience,  the  younger  breathes  the  free  air 
of  creative  fancy." 


V.    The  Discursive  Pkocesses. 


V 


Conception,  judgment  and  reasoning,  the  three  processes 
of  discursive  thought,  are  treated  together,  because  it  is 
impossible  to  make  qualitative  distinctions  among  them. 
They  differ  only  in  degree,  not  in  kind.  In  every  concept, 
there  is  involved  a  rudimentary  judgment,  and  the  syllogism 
consists  simply  in  the  apperceptive  synthesis  of  judgments, 
whose  constituent  elements  are  concepts.  The  three  are 
then  at  bottom  only  different  stages  in  the  one  process,  by 
which  knowledge  of  the  abstract  is  elaborated.     Examples 


INTELLECT.  59 

given,  therefore,  to   illustrate  the  one,  contain  elements 
almost  equally  illustrative  of  the  others. 


)L 


Conception.  —  The  child's  earliest  experience,  being  pre- 
dominantly physiological,  is  also  predominantly  individual 
and  concrete.  He  lives  in  the  particular.  It  is  a  momen- 
tous juncture  in  his  life  when  he  first  steps  out  beyond 
individual  things,  to  abstract  their  common  qualities,  and 
of  these  to  form  notions.  It  is  only  then  that  he  begins  to 
think,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word;  and  it  is  this  thinking 
in  abstractions  and  generals,  which,  in  Locke's  opinion, 
differentiates  the  human  mind  essentially  from  lower  animal 
intelligence.^ 

Taine  believes  that  the  general  notion  makes  its  appear- 
ance only  with  the  acquisition  of  language.  Preyer,  on 
the  other  hand,  maintains  that  "even  before  the  first 
attempts  at  speaking,  a  generalizing  and,  therefore,  concept- 
forming  combination  of  memory-images  regularly  takes 
place."  "That  the  ability  to  abstract  may  show  itself, 
though  imperfectly,  even  in  the  first  year,  is,  according  to 
my  observations,  certain.  Infants  are  struck  by  a  quality 
of  an  object  —  e.g.,  the  white  appearance  of  milk.  The 
'abstracting,'  then,  consists  in  the  isolating  of  this  quality 
from  innumerable  other  sight-impressions,  and  the  blending 
of  the  impressions  into  a  concept.  The  naming  of  this, 
which  begins  months  later,  ...  is  an  outward  sign  of  this 
abstraction,  which  did  not  at  all  lead  to  the  formation  of 
the   concept,  but   followed   it."  He  also  quotes   from 

Oehlwein  to  show  that  deaf-mute  children,  in  the  first  year 
of  life,  form  concepts,  and  logically  combine  them  with  one 
another;  and  he  concludes  that  thinking  is  not  bound  up 
with  verbal  language,  though  it  no  doubt  demands  a  certain 

1  "Human  Understanding,"  Book  11.,  Chap.  IL 


60  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

degree  of  cerebral  development.  Even  orangs  and  chim- 
panzees reason  without  language,  but  their  concepts  are 
neither  so  abstract,  so  clear,  nor  so  numerous  as  those  of  the 
child  even  before  he  learns  to  speak,  wliile  after  that  time 
the  gulf  between  them  widens  infinitely. 

Perez  agrees  with  the  above  view,  and  quotes  from  Hou- 
zeau  to  show  that  dogs,  bees  and  other  dumb  creatures  have 
concepts,  and  carry  on  reasoning  processes.  As  to  the  child, 
he  gives  several  examples  on  this  point.  A  boy  of  eight 
months,  who  used  to  amuse  himself  by  stuffing  things  into 
a  tin  box,  afterwards  examined  every  new  toy  to  find  an 
opening.  Another  child  of  the  same  age  used  to  make  a 
peculiar  sound  when  he  desired  solid  food,  different  from 
that  by  which  he  expressed  his  desire  of  the  breast. 
Another,  at  nine  months,  gave  unmistakable  evidence  that 
he  possessed  the  concept  "animal." 

According  to  Romanes,  there  is  a  class  of  ideas  standing 
between  the  percept  and  the  concept,  less  abstract  than  the 
latter,  but  more  general  than  the  former,  to  which  he  gives 
the  name  recept.  They  are  complex  ideas  arising  out  of  a 
repetition  of  more  or  less  similar  percepts,  ^-g-,  when  a 
parrot,  who  has  learned  to  call  out  how-wow  when  the  house 
dog  enters  the  room,  also  calls  out  this  word  on  seeing  other 
dogs  of  various  sizes,  colors  and  forms,  he  possesses  an  idea 
which  constitutes  an  advance  on  the  percept,  but  cannot, 
strictly  speaking,  be  called  a  concept.  Every  child  passes 
through  a  receptual  stage,  which  does  not  require  language, 
whereas  the  concept,  properly  so-called,  or  the  active 
synthesis  of  qualities  into  a  class  is  not,  in  his  opinion, 
attained  until  the  child  can  speak.-' 

1  See  also  a  series  of  articles  in  Public  School  Journal  for 
November  and  December,  1891,  and  January  and  February,  1892, 
entitled,  "  How  do  Concepts  arise  from  Percepts  ?  " 


INTELLECT.  61 

Taking  the  ordinary  meaning  of  the  word  concept,  which 
includes  what  Eomanes  expresses  by  recept,  it  seems  estab- 
lished that  the  formation  of  the  concept  is  prior  to,  and 
in  large  measure  independent  of,  language;  but  it  seems 
equally  clear  that  abstraction  and  generalization  do  not  attain 
to  any  great  degree  of  complexity  without  the  aid  of  speech, 
as  the  observation  of  the  cleverest  deaf-mutes  clearly  shows. 
Even  after  speech  begins,  the  discursive  processes  develop 
but  slowly.  In  one  case,  a  child  of  seventeen  months  had 
not  yet  differentiated  his  collective  concept  "taste-smell" 
(as  united  in  one  object)  into  the  concepts  "taste"  and 
"  smell ;"  though  another  child,  at  seven  months,  seemed 
to  have  ideas  of  kind.  A  boy  of  three  years  did  not  know 
the  meaning  of  "size"  or  "goodness,"  though  long  before 
this  he  perfectly  understood  the  expression:  "Baby  is  a 
good  boy."  Children  have  very  little  idea  of  number  in  the 
first  two  years.  A  child  of  two  and  a  half  years  confounded 
"naughty"  with  "ugly."  In  short,  we  find  at  this  period 
only  the  lowest  degree  of  abstraction. 

The  child's  first  generalizations  are  very  inaccurate. 
Even  when  he  begins  to  talk  and  to  use  general  names,  he 
does  not  use  them  in  the  same  sense  as  the  adult.  His 
generalizations  are  apt  to  be  too  wide.  "  Logic  in  the  child 
naturally  operates  with  much  more  extensive  and  less 
intensive  notions  than  in  adults.  Hence  he  is  very  liable 
to  illusion,  not  through  stupidity,  but  simply  through  igno- 
rance, arising  out  of  lack  of  experience. "  After  having  held 
out  grass  to  a  sheep,  he  also  offers  some  to.  the  birds,  and 
in  this  he  is  acting  with  perfect  consistency,  within  the 
range  of  his  knowledge.  He  extends  the  term  papa  to  other 
men,  the  word  atta  or  peudu  (perdu)  to  all  sorts  of  disappear- 
ances; he  makes  the  Avord  quack-quack  apply  not  only  to  a 
duck,  but  to  the  water  on  which  the  duck  swims,  then  to  all 
birds  and  insects,  then  to  all  fluids,  and  finally  to  all  coins. 


62     .  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

because  he  had  seen  the  picture  of  an  eagle  on  a  French 
sou.  He  includes  an  eye-glass  in  the  concept  bon  dieu 

(blessed  medal),  and  the  steamboat,  coffee-pot,  and  all  hiss- 
ing, noisy  objects,  in  the  class  fafer  (chemin  de  fer,  locomo- 
tive). A  little  girl  of  eighteen  months  had  been  amused  by 
her  mother  hiding  in  play,  and  saying  coucou.  She  had  also 
been  warned  to  keep  out  of  the  hot  sun,  by  the  words  ga 
brule.  One  day,  on  seeing  the  sun  disappear  behind  a  hill, 
she  put  these  two  ideas  together  and  exclaimed  a  bUle  cou- 
cou. Another  child  of  the  same  age  applied  the  name 
no-no  to  all  eye-glasses,  because  she  had  been  forbidden  to 
snatch  off  her  nurse's  glasses  by  the  words  no-no.  Taine 
believes  the  characteristic  mark,  distinguishing  the  child 
from  the  lower  animal,  is  this  very  capacity  of  detecting 
resemblances  amid  differences,  which  leads  him  to  extend, 
to  such  a  surprising  degree,  the  denotation  of  the  term. 
Not  only  does  he  apply  the  word  boio-wow  to  the  terriers, 
mastiffs  and  Newfoundlands  which  lie  meets  in  the  street, 
but  "  a  little  later  he  does  what  an  animal  never  does,  he 
says  boiv-ivoiv  to  a  pasteboard  dog  that  barks  when  squeezed, 
then  to  a  pasteboard  dog  which  does  not  bark,  but  runs  on 
wheels,  then  to  the  bronze  dogs  which  ornament  the  drawing- 
room,  then  to  his  little  cousin,  who  runs  about  the  room 
on  all  fours,  then,  at  last,  to  a  picture  representing  a 
dog. 

Children's  notions  of  things  are  chiefly  connected  with 
their  uses  or  actions.  M.  Binet  gives  a  large  number  of 
interesting  definitions  of  things  given  by  children,  from 
which  I  select  the  following :  "  Un  couteau,  c'est  pour  couper 
la  viande."  *'Un  cheval,  c'est  pour  trainer  une  voiture, 
avec  un  monsieur  dedans. "  "  Une  lampe,  c'est  pour  allumer, 
pour  qu'on  voie  clair  dans  la  chambre."  "Un  crayon,  c'est 
pour  ecrire."  "  Un  chapeau,  c'est  pour  mettre  sur  la  tete." 
(Note  the  frequency  of  the  "pour.") 


INTELLECT.  63 

Judgment  is  involved,  in  a  rudimentary  form,  in  concep- 
tion, and  even  in  perception,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  fore- 
going examples.  When  a  child  at  two  months  recognizes 
his  parents ;  at  three  and  a  half  months  turns  round  to  the 
cage  on  hearing  the  word  coco;  "comes  to  meet"  the  spoon 
with  his  mouth  when  being  fed ;  at  seven  months  turns  his 
head  around  to  the  left  when  an  object  is  carried  so  far 
behind  him  that  he  can  no  longer  see  it  by  turning  to  the 
right;  at  eight  months  recognizes  a  pictorial  representation j 
and  cries  for  G  our  lay  water,  which  is  white  and  opaque, 
though  not  for  ordinary  water;  in  the  tenth  month  gives 
evidence  of  the  knowledge  that  bodies  have  weight;  and 
shows  by  unmistakable  signs  that  he  misses  his  absent  par- 
ents, and  even  knows  when  a  single  nine-pin  is  removed 
from  his  set, —  we  cannot  doubt  that  he  is  performing  an  act 
of  judgment.  These  primitive  judgments  are  mostly  con- 
crete and  particular,  abstract  and  general  judgments  being  a 
later  attainment.  Children  of  eighteen  months  will  recog- 
nize the  pictures  of  all  the  more  familiar  animals,  and 
respond  with  the  appropriate  sounds,  bow-ivow,  moo,  etc. 
The  spoken  judgment  arises  when  an  object  arouses  an  idea 
in  the  child's  mind,  to  which  idea  he  attaches  a  name, 
recognizing  it  as  connected  with  the  object.  The  first 
spoken  judgment  does  not  then  require  two  words,  as  Taine 
seems  to  think,  but  usually  consists  of  one  word,  which  does 
duty  for  a  whole  sentence.^ 

\  Keasoning.  — "When  the  little  boy,  E.,  was  four  months 
old,  he  was  playing  one  day  on  the  floor  surrounded  by  his 
toys.  One  toy  rolled  away  beyond  his  reach.  He  seized  a 
clothes-pin  and  used  that  as  a  "  rake  "  with  which  to  draw 

1  Preyer's  boy,  at  twenty-three  months,  uttered  his  first  spoken 
judgment,  viz.,  "  Heiss  "  (=  "  This  food  is  too  hot "). 


64        THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CHILDHOOD. 

the  toy  withia  reach  of  his  hand.  Mr.  Darwin  laid  his 
finger  on  the  palm  of  a  child  five  months  old.  The  child 
closed  his  fingers  around  it,  and  carried  it  to  his  mouth. 
When  he  found  that  he  was  hindered  from  sucking  it,  by 
his  own  fingers  getting  in  the  way,  he  loosened  his  grasp 
and  took  a  new  hold  farther  down,  then  vigorously  sucked 
the  finger.  When  Preyer's  boy,  at  six  months,  "after  con- 
siderable experience  in  nursing,  discovered  that  the  flow  of 
milk  was  less  abundant,  he  used  to  place  his  hand  hard 
upon  the  breast,  as  if  he  wanted  to  force  out  the  milk  by 
pressure."  Another  child,  at  seven  months,  cried  for  a 
share  of  the  food  his  nurse  was  eating.  A  boy  of  eight 

months  took  a  watch,  which  was  offered  him,  and  after  biting 
on  it  with  evident  satisfaction,  tried  to  break  a  piece  off,  as 
he  would  from,  a  cracker.  At  thirteen  months,  a  child  who 
noticed  the  resemblance  between  two  men,  inferred  certain 
acts  on  the  part  of  the  one,  which  he  had  been  accustomed 
to  see  in  the  other. 

The  boy,  C,  when  fourteen  months  old,  was  one  day  feed- 
ing the  dog  with  crackers,  when  the  supply  ran  out.  He 
immediately  "  crept  to  the  sideboard,  opened  the  left-hand 
door,  pulled  himself  up  by  the  shelf,  and  helped  himself 
out  of  the  box  in  which  they  were  kept."  He  had  seen 
crackers  taken  from  this  box  before,  but  had  never  done  it 
himself.  He  was  observed  to  feel  his  own  ears,  and  then 
his  mother's,  one  day  when  looking  at  pictures  of  rabbits. 
One  day,  when  eighteen  months  old,  he  came  in  from  play- 
ing on  the  lawn,  quite  hot  and  somewhat  dirty.  He  at  once 
ran  to  his  mother,  holding  up  his  dirty  dress  with  a  gesture 
of  disgust;  then  ran  to  the  drawer  where  his  clean  clothes 
were  kept,  and  tugged  at  it  witli  all  his  might.  Another 
boy  of  the  same  age,  both  of  whose  hands  were  filled  with 
toys,  wishing  to  grasp  still  another,  quickly  put  one  of  them 
between  his  knees.  A  little  girl  of  this  age  used  to  feign 


INTELLECT. 


65 


sleep  until  the  nurse  left  the  room,  when  she  would  immedi- 
ately resume  her  interrupted  romps.  Tiedemann's  boy, 
at  two  years  of  age,  used  to  employ  cunning  to  accomplish 
his  purposes.  The  little  girl,  F.,  at  a  year  and  a  half,  fur- 
nished a  good  example  of  reasoning  by  analogy.  She  had 
been  shown  the  pictures  in  a  book  with  red  binding.  She 
afterwards  went  to  the  bookcase  and  took  down  two  other 
books  having  red  binding,  and  looked  through  them,  evi- 
dently expecting  to  find  pictures  in  them  also.  One  day 
when  I  rose  to  take  my  leave,  she  patted  vigorously  on  the 
cushion  of  a  chair,  and  then  pulled  at  my  coat  to  induce  me 
to  prolong  my  stay. 

From  about  the  end  of  the  second  year,  the  reasoning 
power  in  most  children  makes  such  rapid  progress  that  it  is 
impossible  to  set  down  all  the  examples  that  are  to  hand. 
I  content  myself  with  one  more.  A  boy  of  two  years  was 
quite  familiar  with  the  articles  of  his  food  by  name,  and 
when  the  word  milk  was  spoken  in  his  hearing,  he  clamored 
for  a  share  of  that  article.  His  mother  hit  upon  the  device 
of  spelling  the  word,  when  it  was  undesirable  that  his  atten- 
tion should  be  called  to  it.  Before  long,  however,  he  learned 
to  know  the  word,  even  when  spelled,  and  one  day,  when 
his  mother  asked  for  the  m-i-l-k,  he  at  once  cried  out, 
mickey. 

VI.    The  Idea  or  Self. 

The  phenomena  which  accompany  and  indicate  the  gradual 
emergence  into  clear  consciousness,  of  what  Taine  calls  the 
"unextended  centre,"  the  "mathematical  point,"  by  relation 
to  which  all  the  "  other  "  is  defined,  and  which  each  of  us 
calls  "I,"  or  "me,"— the  external  evidences  that  the  child 
is  slowly  but  surely  becoming  "  aware  of  himself  as  a  perma- 
nent being,  distinct  from  the  objects  he  knows,  the  feelings 


66  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OP   CHILDHOOD. 

he  experiences,  and  the  ends  he  chooses,"      —  may  be  con- 
veniently classified  under  four  heads : 

1.  The  Child's  Treatment  of  his  own  Body.  —  In 
the  first  weeks  he  will  strike  or  scratch  his  own  face.  One 
boy  bit  his  own  finger  until  he  cried  with  the  pain,  even  in 
the  early  part  of  the  second  year.  In  the  ninth  month  the 
feet  are  still  eagerly  felt  of,  and  the  toes  carried  to  the 
mouth,  the  same  as  foreign  substances.  This  experimenta- 
tion Avith  his  own  limbs  goes  on  all  through  the  second,  and 
in  some  cases  well  on  into  the  third  year.  "In  the  first 
year  the  child's  organism  is  not  known  as  part  of  him-' 
self."  A  boy  of  nineteen  months,  when  asked  to  "  give 

the  foot,"  seized  it  with  both  hands,  and  tried  to  hand  it 
over.  A  little  girl,  a  little  over  two  years  old,  used  to 

enlarge  on  a  familiar  ditty  in  the  following  fashion :  "  One 
for  papa,  one  for  mamma,  one  for  toses  (one  for  toes)." 
Sigismund  believes  that  the  child  learns  a  good  deal  about 
his  own  limbs  (and  so  takes  the  first  step  toward  a  knowl- 
edge of  self)  through  bringing  his  hand  to  his  mouth,  to  ease 
the  pain  of  the  growing  teeth.  The  feeling  is  different 
when  he  chews  his  own  finger  and  that  of  his  nurse.  A 
child  of  four  or  five  months  studies  his  own  fingers  atten- 
tively. When  one  hand  accidentally  grasps  the  other,  he 
looks  attentively  at  both.  Lying  on  his  back,  he  gazes  at 
his  legs  stretched  up  in  the  air. 

Closely  connected  with  this  is  the  child's  evident  delight 
in  his  own  activity  and  ability  to  do  things.  Wundt  believes 
the  muscular  sense  plays  a  predominant  rdle  in  the  genesis 
of  self-consciousness,  and  there  is  little  doubt  that  the 
acquisition  of  the  power  of  walking  contributes  very  largely 
to  the  growth  of  the  self-idea.  The  feeling  of  power  is 
engendered  by  the  discovery  that  he  can  cause  changes  in 
objects.     "An  extremely  significant  day  in  the  life  of  the 


INTELLECT.  67 

infant  is  the  one  in  which  he  first  experiences  the  connection 
of  a  movement  executed  by  himself  with  a  sense-impression 
following  upon  it."  Preyer's  boy,  in  the  fifth  month, 

discovered  that  by  tearing  paper  he  could  produce  sound 
sensations ;  also  by  shaking  a  bunch  of  keys,  opening  and 
closing  a  box  (thirteenth  month),  turning  the  leaves  of  a 
book,  etc.,  and  these  occupations  were  accordingly  carried 
on  with  a  perseverance  astonishing  to  an  adult.  He  experi- 
enced a  genuine  pleasure  in  finding  himself  a  cause. 

2.  The  Child's  Behavior  towards  his  Image  in  the 
Mirror.  — Darwin's  child  failed  to  interpret  his  reflection 
when  five  months  old,  but  two  months  later  he  had  accom- 
plished it,  and  at  nine  months  had  learned  to  associate  his 
name  with  the  image.  Another  child  at  eight  months  used 
to  look  at  his  reflection  with  wonder  (expressed  by  wide- 
open  eyes  and  immobility).  "  On  being  shown  a  hand  glass, 
he  regards  his  image  with  interest,  smiles  and  tries  to  catch 
it.  He  puts  his  hand  on  the  glass,  and  tries  to  take  hold 
of  the  image's  hand.  Then  he  turns  the  glass  over,  and 
looks  up  in  wonder  at  the  result."  A  similar  perform- 

ance was  gone  through  by  a  boy  of  ten  months;  and,  six 
months  later,  he  was  found  one  day  standing  before  the 
glass,  pulling  his  hair,  examining  his  eyes  and  ears,  and 
sticking  out  his  tongue.  Preyer's  boy  did  not  notice 

himself  in  the  glass  when  three  months  old.  Three  weeks 
later  he  looked  at  it,  but  with  indifference.  Two  weeks 
later  still,  he  regarded  it  with  attention,  and  laughed  at  the 
sight  of  it.  Near  the  end  of  the  sixth  month,  he  stretched 
out  his  hand  towards  it.  In  his  ninth  month  he  grasped  at 
it,  and  seemed  surprised  when  his  hand  came  against  the 
smooth  surface.  At  fourteen  months  he  passed  his  hand 
behind  the  glass,  as  if  searching  for  something.  He  after- 
wards behaved  in  the  same  manner  toward  a  photograph. 


68        THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CHILDHOOD. 

In  the  sixteenth  month  he  made  grimaces  before  the  glass, 

laughing  as  he  did  so.  Two  weeks  later  he  looked  at  him- 
self often  in  the  glass,  with  pleasure  and  evident  vanity. 
At  twenty  months  he  connected  his  own  name  with  the 
image,  and  when  asked,  "Where  is  Axel?"  would  point  to 
the  reflection.  Another  child  knew  her  image  in  the  glass 
at  twelve  months,  would  point  to  it  and  say  Tatie  (Katie). 
A  little  boy  of  fifteen  months  calls  his  image  Titta,  by 
which  he  means  child  or  doll. 

3.  In  the  third  place,  we  have  those  actions  which  show 
the  beginnings  of  the  Feeling  of  Property,  such  as 
pride  in  personal  appearance,  and  in  adornment,  jealousy 
over  toys,  and  other  things  which  the  child  considers  his 
rights.  A  number  of  examples  have  already  been  given  in 
connection  with  the  emotion  of  jealousy.  As  regards  per- 
sonal adornment,  there  are  very  great  differences  among 
children,  some  taking  great  delight  in  it,  while  others  seem 
to  care  but  little  about  it.  A  little  girl  whom  I  have 
observed  since  her  first  year  seems  very  fond  of  it,  and  will 
spend  hours  in  adorning  herself  with  veils  and  feathers  and 
bracelets,  making  believe  she  is  some  fine  lady.  "Whenever 
her  best  clothes  are  put  on,  or  a  new  hat,  she  is  very  proud 
and  walks  very  straight  and  dignified  indeed. 

4.  Lastly,  we  notice  the  Child's  Use  of  the  Pronoun 
"I"  (Je,  Ich,  Ego).  It  is  interesting  to  remember  that, 
according  to  the  opinion  of  some  philologists  (Max  Miiller, 
for  example),  this  word  was,  at  the  beginning  of  the  develop- 
ment of  language,  a  demonstrative,  meaning  "this  one,"  and 
was  probably  accompanied  by  a  gesture,  and  perhaps,  further 
back  still,  the  gesture  supplied  the  place  of  the  word.  Man 
spoke  of  himself  in  the  third  person  before  he  learned  to  use 
the  first  person.     Just  so  with  the  child.     He  first  calls 


INTELLECT.  69 

himself  by  his  proper  name,  or  he  uses  the  word  hdhy,  and 
the  intelligent  use  of  the  first  personal  pronoun  comes  late 
—  most  observers  put  it  as  late  as  tlie  third  year.  I  have 
never  heard  a  child  less  than  two  years  old  call  himself  "  I " 
or  "me."  The  chief  difficulty  in  the  way  of  his  doing  so 
is  that  he  never  hears  the  word  applied  to  him  by  others. 
This  is  why  he  makes  such  errors  as  "  Take  me  up  on  my 
(meaning  your)  lap." 

The  "  I "  feeling  is  often  present,  therefore,  before  the 
word  is  used.  The  concept  of  the  self  is  not  generated,  but 
only  rendered  more  exact  and  definite  by  speech.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  must  not  be  presumed  that  the  concept  is 
always  present  where  the  word  is  used.  Children  who  are 
constantly  in  the  society  of  those  who  use  the  word  will  use 
it  also,  merely  by  imitation  in  many  cases,  without  compre- 
hending its  meaning.  A  child  may  say  "I  am  hungry," 
without  any  idea  that  "  I  "  is  different  from  "  hungry." 
Perez  says:  "When  the  child  learns  to  say  'I'  or  'me,' 
instead  of  'Charles  '  or  'Paul,'  the  terms  'I '  and  'me  '  are 
not  more  abstract  to  him  than  the  proper  names  which  he 
has  been  taught  to  replace  by  'I'  or  'me.'  Both  the  pro- 
nouns and  the  names  equally  express  a  very  distinct  and 
very  concrete  idea  of  individual  personality.  When  a  three- 
year-old  child  says  'I  want  that,'  it  is  only  a  translation  of 
'Paul  wants  that,'  and  'I,'  like  'Paul,'  indicates  neither  the 
first  nor  the  third  person,  but  the  person  who  is  liimself,  his 
own  well-known  personality,  which  he  continually  feels  in 
his  emotions  and  actions.  An  abstract  notion  of  personality 
does  not  exist  in  a  young  child's  mind."  In  short,  so 

great  is  the  influence  of  the  environment  here,  that  scarcely 
anything  can  be  asserted  in  a  general  way  of  all  children. 
Some  children  scarcely  ever  hear  the  pronoun  "I."  The 
members  of  the  family  avoid  it,  and  say  instead :  "  Mamma 
is  busy ; "    "  Sister  is  gone  to  school ;  "    "  Baby  must   be 


70  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

good, "  etc. ;  in  such  cases,  the  child  will  of  course  take  a 
long  time  to  acquire  the  word. 

In  many  cases,  me  is  used  before  I.  It  seems  easier,  for 
some  reason.  Sometimes  children  pass  through  a  sort  of 
transition  period,  when  /  is  used  indifferently  with  the 
proper  name,  or  even  with  he.  Binet  says  of  the  little  girl 
he  observed  that  at  three  and  a  half  years  exactly,  she  first 
used  the  word  Je,  in  the  sentence  je  ne  sais  2:>as.  Two  days 
after  she  said  je  ne  veux  pas.  But  long  after  that,  she  made 
many  mistakes  in  the  use  of  the  pronoun.  In  two  other 
children,  the  /  took  the  place  of  the  third  personal  designa- 
tion before  the  end  of  the  third  year,  and  /  preceded  me, 
and  you  was  later  than  either.  Another  child  at  twenty- 

five  months  used  my,  but  not  /. 

Such  are  the  various  factors  entering  into  the  develop- 
ment of  the  child's  self-consciousness,  by  which  "he  raises 
himself  higher  and  higher  above  the  dependent  condition  of 
the  animal,  so  that  at  last  the  difference  (not  recognizable 
at  all  before  birth,  and  hardly  recognizable  at  the  beginning 
after  birth)  between  animal  and  human  being  "  attains  such 
infinite  magnitude. 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE   FEELINGS. 

The  principle  of  transformation,  which  is  exemplified  in 
almost  every  fact  recorded  in  the  preceding  chapters,  is  still 
more  clearly  illustrated  in  those  departments  of  the  mental 
life  which  we  have  yet  to  consider.  In  studying  the  emo- 
tional life  of  children,  for  example,  we  shall  observe  that  in 
the  earlier  stages,  when  intellectual  comprehension  (which  is 
essential  to  the  emotions  of  the  grown-up  person)  can  by  no 
means  be  presumed  to  be  present,  yet  the  outward  manifes- 
tation—  movement,  facial  expression,  etc.  —  resembles  very 
closely  that  of  the  adult,  or  the  older  child.  It  seems 
unphilosophical  to  class  the  phenomena  of  these  two  periods 
together  under  a  common  name,  and  our  only  excuse  for 
doing  so  is  that  the  One  shades  off  so  gradually  into  the 
other  that  to  establish  a  rigid  line  of  distinction  seems 
impossible.  We  shall  therefore  consider  both  stages  under 
the  general  head  of  feeling,  with  the  preliminary  remark, 
that  emotion  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  term,  arises  only 
when  the  mental  powers  have  so  far  developed,  that  the 
feeling  is  the  product  or  outcome  of  thought.  Previous  to 
that  time  the  outward  expression  mu§t  be  looked  upon 
merely  as  the  response  of  the  organism  to  agreeable  or 
disagreeable  conditions.  In  the  case  of  a  genuine  emotion, 
as  above  described,  the  same  physiological  expressions  con- 
tinue to  be  employed,  because  through  habit  they  have 
become  easier  than  any  others,  while  their  employment  in 
the  first  stage  may  be  accounted  for  on  the  principle  of 
heredity. 

71 


72  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 


I.  Feab. 

These  remarks  are  specially  true  in  the  case  of  fear, 
whose  manifestation  is  at  first  quite  independent  of  thought, 
and  of  specific  experiences,  but  which,  as  a  true  mental 
phenomenon,  requires  both  these  for  its  full  development. 

We  have,  then,  two  stages  of  fear :  First,  the  fear  that  is 
independent  of  hurtful  experiences,  and  must  be  considered 
hereditary;  and  secondly,  the  fear  that  is  produced  by  a 
mental  image  of  the  danger.  The  former  is  very  marked 
in  the  lower  animals.  ^Vlien  Spalding  let  loose  a  hawk 
suddenly  over  a  brood  of  young  chickens  in  a  meadow,  they 
immediately  "crouched"  and  hid  themselves  in  the  grass, 
while  the  mother  hen  attacked  the  foe  with  tremendous 
violence,  though  neither  she  nor  her  brood  had  ever  seen  a 
hawk  before.  A  dove,  let  loose  in  the  same  way,  produced 
no  such  result.  So  the  child,  when  only  a  few  weeks  old, 
will  start  and  cry  at  any  sudden  sound  or  strange  sight, 
quite  independently  of  experience.  He  shrinks  from  cats 
and  dogs,  without  ever  having  been  injured  by  them ;  he  is 
afraid  of  falling,  before  he  has  ever  fallen,  and  trembles  at 
the  sight  of  large  and  majestic  objects,  such  as  the  ocean, 
when  he  looks  upon  them  for  the  first  time.  Many  infants 
cry  when  it  thunders,  though  they  do  not  at  all  understand 
what  it  is,  and  experience  a  shock  —  just  as  some  nervous 
adults  do — when  a  door  closes  with  a  bang,  or  an  object 
falls  upon  the  floor.  They  contract  all  the  muscles  of 
the  body  nervously  when  suddenly  lowered  through  the 
air  in  the  nurse's  arms.  They  sometimes  shrink  from 
people  dressed  in  black,  and  from  those  who  speak  in  deep 
sepulchral  tones.  A  little  girl,  slightly  over  two  months 
old,  appeared  terrified  on  beholding  a  distorted  face;  she 
cried  out,  and  sought  protection  in  her  mother's  arms.     A 


THE   FEELINGS.  73 

boy  of  seven  months  seemed  afraid  when  a  fan  was  opened 
and  closed  before  him ;  and  another  at  a  loud  snoring  noise 
■which  he  heard  for  the  first  time.  The  boy  G.,  when  about 
a  year  old,  manifested  the  most  abject  terror  at  the  sight 
(and  sound)  of  a  bright  red  humming  top  which  had  been 
bought  for  him.  He  even  refused  for  some  time  to  go  near 
the  spot  where  the  top  had  been.  Up  to  the  present  time 
this  fear  has  abated  very  little,  though  the  top  has  been  for 
more  than  a  year  in  his  home. 

In  this  early  period,  most  children  seem  more  afraid  of 
sounds  than  of  sights.  They  are  usually  afraid  of  thunder, 
but  scarcely  ever  of  lightning.  A  child  who  started  ner- 
vously when  a  box  of  comfits  was  shaken  before  him,  made 
no  such  sign  when  the  empty  box  was  shaken.  One  may 
thrust  with  the  finger,  as  we  have  seen,  quite  close  to  the 
open  eye  of  an  infant,  without  causing  him  to  blink,  while, 
if  one  speaks  to  him  in  a  harsh  or  loud  tone,  he  will  cry. 
A  little  child  has  been  knoA\Ti  to  lie  smiling  in  his  cradle, 
surrounded  by  the  flames  of  a  burning  house;  but  when 
rescued,  has  broken  out  into  loud  cries  of  fear  at  the  noise 
of  the  engines  and  the  shouting  of  the  assembled  crowd. 
Little  G.,  when  slightly  over  two  years  of  age,  became  very 
much  frightened  at  the  sound  made  by  a  clock  from  whose 
pendulum  the  weight  had  been  removed,  and  which  was 
rapidly  running  down  with  a  loud  whirring  noise. 

Eye-fear,  however,  soon  develops,  and  strange  sights  as 
well  as  sounds  startle  and  frighten  the  child.  We  have  a 
very  ancient  example  of  this  in  the  Iliad,  where  Hector  is 
described  as  bidding  his  wife  and  child  farewell  before 
going  out  to  the  fight.  AVhen  he  reached  out  his  arms 
for  the  child,  the  latter  cried  out,  and  hid  his  face  in  the 
bosom  of  the  nurse,  frightened  by  his  father's  gleaming 
bronze,  and  the  helmet  crested  with  horse-hair.  Sigismund 
describes  his  child  as  showing  fear  of  a  sleeve  board,  by 


74  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

association  with  the  glowing  "goose,"  and  also  at  the 
sparks  from  a  blacksmith's  forge.  There  are  also  tonch- 
fears.  The  little  girl  F.  started  back  when  her  hand  came 
into  contact  with  some  soft  fur.  The  suddenness  of  the 
sensation  apparently  had  more  to  do  with  her  fear  than 
the  quality  of  the  feeling,  for  she  soon  lost  her  fear  of  this 
article. 

According  to  my  observations,  the  fears  of  children  are 
most  commonly  aroused  by  objects  that  are  vast  and  of 
overpowering  aspect,  and  that  emit  loud  sounds,  especially 
when  they  approach  too  near.  In  many  cases,  too,  this  fear 
is  felt  only  Avlien  the  child  is  forced  to  face  the  dreaded 
object  alone.  A  boy  of  two  years,  who  takes  great  deJight 
in  going  with  his  father  to  watch  the  passing  trains  from 
the  bottom  of  the  garden,  came  running  to  the  house  one 
day  in  great  fear,  when  a  passing  express  found  him  at  the 
post  of  observation  alone. 

Some  investigations  have  recently  been  made  in  Cali- 
fornia with  the  view  of  determining  what  objects  for  the 
most  part  cause  the  fears  of  children.  In  nearly  two- 
thirds  of  the  cases  examined,  the  fear  was  "a  vague, 
haunting  terror  of  the  dark,  of  awful  shapes,  of  something 
I  know  not  what,"  conjured  up,  apparently,  in  the  chikl's 
imagination.  In  the  remainder  of  the  cases,  the  fear 
was  connected  with  specific  objects,  persons,  animals,  or 
machines,  such  as  the  steam  engine. 

The  plasticity  of  the  child's  nature  renders  him  suscepti- 
ble to  impressions  which,  in  many  cases,  remain  with  him 
through  life.  Fear  of  the  dark,  fear  of  the  woods,  fear 
of  being  alone,  are  often  inculcated  by  unwise  nurses  and 
teachers,  and  remain,  in  some  cases,  ineradicably  fixed  in 
the  constitution.  Mosso  tells  of  an  old  soldier  who,  on 
being  asked  what  had  been  his  greatest  fear,  replied :  "  I 
am  nearly  seventy  years  of  age.     I  have  looked  death"  in 


THE    FEELINGS.  75 

the  face  many  times,  and  never  felt  fear ;  but  whenever  I 
pass  a  little  church  in  the  shadow  of  a  wood,  or  a  deserted 
chapel  in  the  mountains,  I  always  remember  an  abandoned 
oratory  in  my  native  village,  and  am  afraid.  I  look  around, 
as  if  I  were  about  to  see  the  corpse  of  a  murdered  man 
which  I  saw  in  my  infancy,  and  with  which  an  old  servant 
threatened  to  shut  me  up  in  order  to  quiet  me." 

The  child  from  three  to  seven  years  is  very  liable  to  have 
dreams  of  exceeding  vividness,  and  if  he  wake  suddenly 
out  of  a  deep  sleep,  his  face  will  often  bear  signs  of  great 
fear,  as  though  he  saw  an  apparition.  The  eyes  stare 
straight  ahead,  he  fails  to  recognize  persons,  he  breaks  out 
into  perspiration,  his  heart  beats  hard  and  his  limbs  trem- 
ble. These  nocturnal  fears  may  become  so  strong  as  to 
cause  veritable  attacks  of  epilepsy. 

Sometimes  a  new  fear  is  developed  by  sickness.  Some 
children  seem  morbidly  timid  and  fearful,  while  others 
seldom  show  signs  of  fear  in  any  form.  As  the  child's 
education  progresses,  his  fear  increases  in  some  directions, 
and  decreases  in  others ;  as  he  learns,  on  the  one  hand, 
that  certain  objects  which  he  supposed  harmless  are  really 
harmful,  and  on  the  other,  that  some  whicL  he  at  first 
esteemed  dangerous  will  do  him  no  injury.  In  other 
words,  it  is  only  a  commonplace  to  say  that  fear  is  both 
increased  and  diminished  by  advancing  knowledge.  The 
man  is  more  afraid  of  a  loaded  pistol,  and  less  afraid  of 
an  emjity  one,  than  the  child. 

II.     Anger. 

Anger  (which,  according  to  Plato,  is  one  of  the  natural 
attributes  of  the  soul,  and  closely  akin  to  courage)  is  evil 
only  in  its  abuse.  In  a  moderate  degree,  it  is  the  index  of 
a  just  and  sensitive  temperament,  and  a  force  which  educa- 


76  THE    PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

tion  should  direct  and  not  annihilate.  "In  my  opinion," 
says  Perez,  "a  child  of  ten  months  who  does  not  weep  or 
cry  at  least  four  or  five  times  a  day,  who  is  not  amused, 
and  who  is  not  irritated,  like  a  savage,  or  a  young  animal, 
by  a  mere  trifle  ("  pour  une  bagatelle  "),  is  lacking  in  sensi- 
bility and  in  intelligence,  and  will,  no  doubt,  be  lacking  in 
character,  —  bury  him ;  he  is  dead."  "  It  is  necessary,"  he 
goes  on  to  say,  speaking  of  the  education  of  the  child  in 
this  regard,  "to  surround  the  cradle  with  an  atmosphere  of 
sweet  serenity,  but  it  is  not  always  necessary  to  hide  anger. 
Just  anger  should  be  shown,  but  with  moderation." 

It  is  difBcult  to  say  when  the  child  first  feels  anger, 
because  its  outward  signs  are  at  first  very  easily  confounded 
with  those  of  pain  or  distress.  Mr.  Sully  thought  he  saw 
manifestations  of  anger  at  the  very  outset  of  life,  in  a  little 
girl  who,  "  in  refusing  to  accept  the  nutriment  provided  by 
nature,  showed  all  the  signs  of  passionate  wrath."  Mr. 
Darwin  noticed,  in  a  child  eight  days  old,  frowning  and 
wrinkling  of  the  skin  around  the  eyes  before  crying ;  but  he 
adds,  "  this  may  have  been  pain  and  not  anger."  In  the 
third  month,  he  thought  he  observed  signs  of  real  anger,  and 
in  the  fourth  month  he  had  no  doubt  about  it,  for  the  blood 
rushed  into  the  face  and  scalp.  Tiedemann's  son  gave  evi- 
dence of  anger  in  the  second  month  by  actively  pushing  away 
the  disagreeable  object.  By  the  eighth  month,  he  was  quite 
capable  of  violent  anger  and  jealousy.  Perez  believes  he 
has  seen  signs  of  impatience  at  the  end  of  the  first  month, 
if  not  earlier;  and,  in  the  second  month,  real  fits  of  passion, 
pushing  away  distasteful  objects,  frowning,  reddening,  trem- 
bling, and  weeping.  At  six  months,  children  will  scream 
if  their  toys  are  taken  away,  and  towards  the  end  of  the 
first  year,  anger  sometimes  exhibits  itself  in  revengeful 
actions  hurtful  to  themselves,  such  as  beating  a  chair,  etc. 
A  child  of  seven  months  screamed  with  rage  because  a 


THE   FEELINGS.  77 

lemon  slipped  out  of  his  hand;  and  at  eleven  months,  if 
a  wrong  plaything  were  given  him,  he  would  push  it  away 
and  beat  it. 

Up  to  a  certain  age,  almost  all  children  are  exceedingly 
irascible,  and  I  know  of  no  particular  in  which  the  familiar 
analogy  of  the  child  to  the  savage  is  more  strikingly  shown. 
The  child's  will  and  reason  are  weak,  his  passions  are  strong, 
comparatively  speaking,  and  he  is  ruled  by  his  feelings.  So 
it  is  with  savage  races.  They  are  proverbially  passionate ; 
and  the  progressive  effects  of  civilization  upon  a  race,  lead- 
ing them  gradually  to  control  the  impetuous  and  unreason- 
able rage  which  characterized  the  earlier  stages  of  their 
civilization,  is  strikingly  analogous  to  the  wise  training  of 
the  human  being  from  the  irascibility  of  the  child  .to  the 
calmness  and  moderation  of  the  educated  man. 

III.     Surprise,  Astonishment,  Curiosity. 

Surprise  and  astonishment  are  closely  related  to  fear ;  not 
only  in  childhood,  but  in  all  our  life.  Novelty  of  impres- 
sion and  failure  to  understand  are  the  prolific  causes  of 
wonder,  as  well  as  of  fear.  And  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  it 
must  be  borne  in  mind,  that  wonder  requires  and  presup- 
poses a  certain  amount  of  knowledge.  If  I  knew  absolutely 
nothing  about  crows,  the  sight  of  a  white  crow  would  cause 
me  no  more  surprise  than  the  sight  of  a  black  one.  This 
explains  the  fact  that  little  children  often  fail  to  manifest 
surprise  where  we  expect  them  to  do  so.  They  fail  to  be 
astonished  at  what  happens,  simply  because,  being  totally 
ignorant  in  regard  to  the  matter  in  hand,  they  have  no 
preconceived  ideas  as  to  what  ought  to  happen,  and  do 
not,  therefore,  expect  any  one  thing  more  than  any  other. 
Accordingly,  that  which  actually  happens  is  taken  as  a 
matter  of  course. 


78        THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CHILDHOOD. 

Surprise  and  astonishment  are  not  identical.  The  former 
may  be  described  as  an  active  state,  the  latter  as  a  passive 
one.  The  child  who  is  only  surprised  maintains  control  of 
his  muscles,  and  examines  the  strange  object  with  the  closest 
attention,  while  the  astonished  child  suddenly  loses  voli- 
tional control,  and  remains  fixed  in  the  attitude  in  which 
the  strange  impression  overtook  him,  with  wide-open  mouth 
and  eyes.  In  the  one  case  there  is  activity  and  movement, 
in  the  other  a  sort  of  paralysis. 

The  germ  of  surprise  has  been  observed  in  children  less 
than  a  month  old,  who  may  be  seen  to  stare  at  their  own 
fingers,  with  great  attention,  as  though  having  noticed  them 
for  the  first  time.  From  this  time  onward,  wonder  is  con- 
stantly manifested  at  pictures  on  the  wall,  sunbeams  dancing 
on  the  floor,  the  fire  crackling  on  the  hearth,  and  especially 
at  the  movements  of  animate  beings.  The  infant  gazes  long 
and  steadily  at  these  strange  phenomena.  A  little  girl  of 
less  than  a  month,  on  being  taken  downstairs  into  new  quar- 
ters, stared  around  in  great  wonder  for  a  time,  but  this  soon 
passed  away. 

Astonishment  makes  its  appearance  later.  The  following 
are  Preyer's  observations  on  this  point:  In  the  twenty- 
second  week,  the  child  was  struck  with  astonishment  when 
his  father  suddenly  appeared  and  spoke  to  him  while  they 
were  riding  in  a  railway  carriage.  In  his  sixth  and  seventh 
months,  the  same  thing  occurred  at  the  sight  of  a  stranger 
in  the  room.  The  child's  eyes  opened  wide,  his  lower  jaw 
dropped,  and  his  body  became  motionless.  In  the  eighth 
and  ninth  months,  these  symptoms  were  still  more  pro- 
nounced, but  it  was  noticed  that  astonishment  was  mani- 
fested generally  at  sights  and  sounds,  and  not  at  impressions 
of  taste  and  smell.  The  child  manifested  astonishment  at 
the  opening  and  shutting  of  a  fan  (31st  week) ;  at  the  imi- 
tation of  the  voices  of  animals  (34:th  week) ;  at  a  strange 


THE   FEELINGS.  79 

face  (44th  week) ;  at  a  new  sound  (52d  week),  and  at  a 
lighted  lantern  seen  on  awaking  (58th  week).  Along  with 
the  gestures  described  there  was  sometimes  the  sound  of 
"ah,"  made  by  involuntary  expiration  of  breath.  By  the 
end  of  the  second  year,  these  signs  of  astonishment  became 
more  rare,  as  the  child  grew  more  accustomed  to  strange 
sense-impressions. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  peculiar  manner  of  express- 
ing this  emotion,  as  well  as  most  of  the  others,  is  entirely 
original  with  the  child  himself.  He  expresses  astonishment 
in  this  way  before  he  has  had  any  opportunity  of  imitating 
the  gestures  of  others.  These  gestures,  therefore,  must  be 
the  result  of  instinctive  tendencies,  which,  by  virtue  of 
heredity,  have  become  fixed  in  the  human  race,  as  they  are 
everywhere  the  same. 

M.  Egger  emphasizes  the  close  relationship  between  the 
feeling  of  wonder  and  the  religious  sentiment,  and  holds 
that  the  child  is  by  nature  predisposed  to  religious  ideas, 
whose  germs  he,  in  fact,  brings  into  the  world  with  hiui. 
M.  Perez,  on  the  other  hand,  following  Spencer,  maintains 
that  there  is  no  innate  predisposition  in  the  child  to  look 
beyond  the  natural  to  the  supernatural,  and  that,  apart  from 
training  and  example,  the  religious  ideas  would  never  take 
root  in  his  mind.  In  the  absence  of  conclusive  evidence  on 
the  point,  all  opinions  must  be  merely  hypothetical.  It  may, 
however,  be  suggested  that  if  the  familiar  analogy  between 
the  infancy  of  the  individual  and  that  of  the  race  is  to  hold 
here,  we  must  accept  M.  Egger's  position,  since  almost  all 
savage  races  are  deeply  religious,  abounding  in  ideas  of  the 
supernatural. 

Closely  allied  to  the  sentiment  of  wonder  is  that  of  ciiri- 
vsity.  This  is  a  natural,  spontaneous  tendency,  which  might 
perhaps  be  more  fittingly  classed  under  the  liead  of  intellect 
but  for  the  fact  that,  in  the  very  young  child,  its  essential 


80  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

character  is  feeling.  It  consists  of  a  sort  of  chronic  hunger 
for  new  sensations,  which  impels  the  child  constantly  to 
handle,  examine,  taste,  and  otherwise  experiment  upon  all 
objects  that  come  within  his  reach.  The  little  boy  R.  used 
to  try  to  untie  every  parcel  that  was  brought  in.  It  is  a 
purely  sensuous  impulse  at  first,  but  with  the  expansion  of 
the  intellect,  it  is  transformed  into  the  pure  desire  to  know. 
It  permeates  the  play  of  the  child,  which,  as  Sigismund 
says,  is  like  the  experimentation  of  the  scientist,  by  which 
he  elicits  from  nature  the  answers  to  his  questions.  It  is 
one  of  the  most  powerful  factors  in  the  child's  development, 
and  should  be  guided  into  right  channels,  rather  than  dis- 
couraged, by  the  educator. 

Tiedemann  believed  curiosity  was  developed  in  his  son  in 
his  second  month ;  the  eyes  made  an  effort  to  follow  a  new 
or  curious  object.  Perez  saw  evidences  of  curiosity  almost 
from  the  beginning,  and  at  two  months  the  child  ''would 
stretch  out  his  hand,  and  turn  his  eyes  and  ears  towards 
objects  affecting  his  senses.  At  three  months  he  would 
seize  objects  within  reach,  and  shake  them  about  to  amuse 
himself."  From  this  time  on,  and  especially  from  the  time 
he  begins  to  walk,  everything  within  reach  becomes  the 
object  of  constant  study.  The  acquisition  of  language  adds 
greatly  to  his  resources  in  this  respect.  "  His  little  voice, 
a  hundred  times  in  an  hour,  expresses  a  desire,  or  asks  a 
question,  and  that,  not  so  much  through  need  of  knowing 
what  tlimgs  are,  ...  as  through  the  appetite  for  fresh  and 
new  sensations.  So  powerful  does  this  impulse  become 
that  sometimes  the  child  is  sad,  or  even  sick,  if  it  be  not 
gratified."  ^ 

M.  Taine  calls  attention  to  the  significant  circumstance 
that  this  curiosity,  which  is  so  powerful  a  force  in  child 

1  "  Education  Morale  dfes  le  Berceau." 


THE    FEELINGS.  81 

life,  is  not  found  in  the  lower  animals.  "Any  one  may 
observe  that  from  the  fifth  or  sixth  month,  children  employ 
their  whole  time  for  two  years  or  more  in  making  physical 
experiments.  No  animal,  not  even  the  cat  or  dog,  makes 
this  constant  study  of  all  bodies  within  its  reach.  All  day 
long  the  child  of  whom  I  speak  —  twelve  months  old — • 
touches,  feels,  turns  about,  lets  drop,  tastes,  and  experi- 
ments upon,  everything  she  gets  hold  of,  whatever  it  may 
be — ball,  doll,  coral,  or  plaything.  When  once  it  is  suffi- 
ciently known,  she  throws  it  aside ;  it  is  no  longer  new ;  she 
has  nothing  further  to  learn  from  it,  and  so  has  no  further 
interest  in  it."  ^  It  will  be  noticed  here  that  Taine 
assigns  a  larger  part  to  the  intellectual  than  does  Perez. 
He  says  physical  need  and  greediness  count  for  nothing. 
It  is  pure  curiosity.  "It  seems  as  if,  in  her  little  brain, 
every  group  of  perceptions  was  tending  to  complete  itself, 
as  in  that  of  a  child  who  makes  use  of  language."  But  the 
little  girl  observed  by  Taine  was  a  year  old,  and  by  that 
time,  no  doubt,  curiosity  was  beginning  to  assume  more  of 
an  intellectual  character. 


IV.    Esthetic  Feelings. 

As  early  as  the  forty-fifth  day,  Mr.  Darwin  noticed  a  real 
smile  of  pleasure,  "which  must  have  had  a  mental  origin." 
It  was  observed  when  the  infant  was  looking  at  his  mother, 
and  also  during  the  act  of  nursing ;  and  was  quite  different 
from  the  so-called  smiles  which  had  been  seen  prior  to  that 
time,  in  being  accompanied  by  a  more  intelligent  expres- 
sion, and  by  the  sparkling  and  "  swimming  "  of  the  eyes. 

It  is  not  to  be  presumed  that  every  laugh  of  the  young 
child  proceeds  from  a  comprehension  of  the  humorous.     The 

i"Mmd,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  252. 


82  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

first  laugli  is  probably  —  like  the  first  vocal  utterances  — 
only  the  spontaneous  functioning  of  the  organism.  Yet  it 
is  maintained  by  careful  observers  that  the  sense  of  fun  is 
present  in  some  children  three  months  old.  About  this  age 
they  may  be  greatly  amused  by  such  little  games  as  throw- 
ing a  pinafore  over  the  head  and  suddenly  withdrawing  it, 
and  by  the  familiar  gambols  of  hide-and-peek.  Later  they 
show  great  pleasure  at  being  carried  on  one's  shoulder, 
swung  about  in  the  air,  or  tossed  up  to  the  ceiling.  They 
laugh  most  heartily  while  the  fun  lasts,  and  are  very  unwill- 
ing that  it  should  stop. 

Something  has  already  been  said  on  the  subject  of  musical 
appreciation  in  children.  Mr.  Darwin,  who  observed  in  his 
child  a  fondness  for  the  piano  as  early  as  the  fourth  month, 
considers  the  feeling  of  pleasure  in  music  as  the  first  of  the 
aesthetic  sentiments,  unless  the  appreciation  of  bright  colors 
comes  earlier.  Another  child,  at  five  months,  showed  signs 
of  pleasure  when  singing  was  going  on,  and  even  kept  a  sort 
of  time  with  his  body,  but  was  indifferent  to  whistling. 
Another  observer  places  the  pleasure  in  musical  sounds  as 
early  as  the  second  month,  and  in  another  case  the  child  was 
observed  at  eleven  weeks  to  pucker  up  his  lip  a  little  when 
the  piano  was  being  played.  I  have  frequently  observed 
this  fondness  for  music  at  a  later  age,  when  the  child  will 
crowd  close  to  the  piano,  and  show  his  appreciation  by 
rocking  his  body  to  and  fro.  Appreciation  of  expression  in 
music  is,  however,  almost  entirely  lacking  at  this  time,  and 
requires  education  to  develop  it. 

Sense  of  Material  Beauty.  —  The  child  at  first  con- 
fuses the  beautiful  with  lohat  is  pleasant.  Animated  move- 
ment at  the  sight  of  beautiful  things  is  at  first,  no  doubt, 
only  response  to  pleasant  feeling.  There  is  no  understand- 
ing of  form,  color,  etc.,  as  beautiful  or  otherwise.      This 


THE   FEELINGS.  83 

pleasure  in  certain  sensations,  however,  is  one  of  the  foun- 
dation stones  upon  which  the  aesthetic  sense  of  material 
beauty  is  afterwards  to  be  built.  From  about  the  eighth 
month,  there  have  been  observed  the  beginnings  of  tliis 
feeling  in  the  pleasure  shown  by  the  child  in  personal 
adornment.  But  even  now  the  aesthetic  and  the  sensuous 
are  blended  in  the  pleasure  a  child  feels  in  the  new  dress 
or  hat.  "  Pretty  "  and  "  good  "  are  interchangeable  terms  in 
his  mind.  At  thirteen  months  he  will  snatch  at  haphazard 
among  a  heap  of  toys,  seeming  not  to  discriminate  at  all 
among  them  as  to  beauty;  and,  at  a  much  later  period, 
a  child  taken  out  to  the  country  gives  no  evidence  of  any 
appreciation  of  the  beauties  of  the  landscape,  but  is  attracted 
rather  by  some  new  or  strange  object  —  especially  if  it  be 
an  animal,  or  something  that  moves.  Symmetry  in  form 
and  harmony  in  colors  make  but  little  impression  on  him. 
Here,  as  in  music,  he  demands  quantity  rather  than  quality, 
movement  rather  than  expression.  Yet  these  words  must 
not  be  understood  as  denying  to  the  young  child  all  sesthetic 
feeling.  Beautiful  objects,  if  they  are  not  too  large,  nor  too 
distant,  please  him.  He  is  charmed  by  the  pretty  butterfly 
and  the  pretty  flower ;  he  is  greatly  attracted  by  the  human 
face,  and  by  the  expression  of  the  human  eye. 

The  dramatic  instinct  is  very  strong  in  childhood,  though 
stronger  and  earlier  in  some  children  than  in  others.  Chil- 
dren are  born  actors.  Their  lively  imagination  and  strong 
hereditary  tendency  to  imitation  lead  them,  even  before 
the  first  year  of  their  life  has  gone,  to  perform  many  curi- 
ous movements  and  gestures.  In  their  plays,  children  con- 
stantly personify,  represent,  dramatize,  assume  characters, 
and  assign  fictitious  characters  to  other  persons  and  things. 
An  eminent  teacher  in  Toronto  assures  me  that  his  three 
children,  in  their  play,  almost  always  address  each  other  by 
assumed  names,  and  the  play  is  carried  on  in  make-believe 


84  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

characters,  "which  are  dropped  as  soon  as  the  game  is  over, 
and  never  referred  to  at  any  other  time. 

V.     Love,  Sympathy,  etc. 

If  we  may  judge  by  the  smiles  which  an  infant  bestows 
upon  those  who  have  charge  of  him,  affection  for  persons 
arises  very  early.  These  smiles  have  been  observed  before 
the  end  of  the  second  month,  and  even  at  a  much  earlier 
period.  The  earliest  smiles  are  probably  automatic,  as 
already  said,  but  by  the  end  of  the  fourth  month  there  is  no 
longer  any  doubt  that  persons  are  recognized.  A  little  boy 
of  this  age  was  observed  to  lift  up  both  arms  towards  his 
parents,  "  with  an  indescribable  expression  of  longing."  A 
girl  of  the  same  age  used  to  be  fond  of  lying  beside  her 
sister,  their  faces  touching.  After  her  sister  died  (she  was 
then  five  months  old),  she  seemed  very  lonely,  and  when 
she  met  other  children  of  her  own  age,  she  would  greet  them 
with  smiles  and  kisses.  In  another  case  visible  signs  of 
affection  for  persons  whom  he  knew,  were  shown  by  a  boy 
eight  months  old,  and  another  boy,  who,  when  nine  months 
old,  used  to  return  his  father's  caresses  by  a  charming  smile 
and  gentle  stroking  of  his  father's  face,  had  grown  very 
affectionate  and  sympathetic  by  the  time  he  was  fourteen 
months  old,  and  bestowed  his  caresses  in  abundance,  not 
only  on  his  parents  and  friends,  but  on  the  cat  and  dog 
also.  Spontaneous  expression  of  affection  is,  in  many  cases, 
indeed,  first  shown  about  the  beginning  of  the  second  year. 
One  child  of  this  age  kissed  his  nurse  repeatedly  on  her 
return  from  a  short  absence,  and  another  was  in  the  habit 
of  showing  his  affection  for  certain  persons  by  gently  lay- 
ing his  hand  upon  their  faces  or  shoulders.  Affection  for 
animals,  and  even  for  inanimate  objects,  is  also  very  strong 
in  many  children  of  this  age.     The  little  boy  R.  was  remark- 


THE    FEELINGS.  85 

ably  attached  to  an  old  scarf  of  soft  wool,  and  to  a  couple 
of  rag  dolls.  He  would  not  go  to  sleep  without  them,  but 
would  lie  in  his  cradle  and  call  for  them  until  they  were 
brought,  when  he  would  hug  them  up  in  his  arms,  and  fall 
asleep  chattering  and  cooing  to  them  in  a  charming  manner. 
When  he  got  into  trouble,  especially  if  his  mother  punished 
him,  he  would  run  and  bury  his  face  in  the  old  scarf,  and 
weep  out  his  childish  sorrows  into  its  sympathetic  folds. 

The  memory  of  the  little  child  is  comparatively  weak, 
and  his  experience  short;  and  hence,  though  capable  of 
strong  affection,  that  affection  does  not  persist  long  in  the 
absence  of  its  object.  "  Out  of  sight,  out  of  mind,"  i§  true 
in  the  case  of  the  child  during  his  first  year,  and  relatively 
true  to  a  much  later  period.  He  is  incapable  of  "  homesick- 
ness," with  all  its  suffering,  simply  because  he  is  unable  as 
yet  to  form  mental  pictures  of  home  and  friends  who  are 
absent.  He  lives  in  the  present  rather  than  the  past,  in 
the  realm  of  sense  rather  than  that  of  memory.  For  the 
same  reason,  his  love  for  persons  and  places  is  very  plastic, 
and  may  be  moulded  and  directed  into  almost  any  desired 
channel  during  these  early  months  and  years ;  hence  the 
responsibility  resting  on  those  who  are  intrusted  Avith  his 
earliest  education  in  home  and  school. 

There  are  two  reasons  why  sympathy  as  a  characteristic  of 
childhood  should  be,  during  the  first  few  months,  so  weak  as 
to  be  almost  entirely  lacking.  The  first  is  that  the  child's 
life  at  this  time  is  so  full  of  his  own  personal  needs  that  he 
can  pay  but  little  attention  to  those  of  others ;  the  second, 
that  he  is  as  yet  unable  to  comprehend  the  outward  signs  of 
feeling  in  others,  because  of  the  shortness  of  his  own  experi- 
ence. It  seems  probable  that  some  of  the  earliest  manifes- 
tations of  apparently  sympathetic  feeling  may  be  merely 
the  result  of  sensori-motor  suggestion.  Sigismund  noticed 
the  first  signs  of  sympathy  at  the  end  of  the  first  three 


86  THE   PSYCHOLOGY    OF   CHILDHOOD. 

months,  but  Tiedemann  says  his  boy,  when  only  two  months 
old,  made  sympathetic  responses  when  consoled  by  the  usual 
vocal  expressions.  Mr.  Sully  has  observed  the  same  thing. 
In  another  case  a  boy  six  months  old  drew  a  melancholy 
face,  with  mouth  depressed,  when  his  nurse  pretended  to 
cry.  At  seven  months,  another  child  manifested  decided 
altruism,  and  seemed  desirous  of  sharing  his  pleasures  — 
with  the  exception  of  food  —  with  others.  In  another  case 
a  child  of  eight  months  cried  when  some  one  pretended  to 
whip  his  nurse,  and  another  child  of  nearly  the  same  age 
made  a  mournful  whining  noise,  accompanied  by  the  facial 
expression  of  "crying,"  on  hearing  another  child  cry,  and 
also  when  a  minor  chord  was  struck  on  the  piano.  During 
the  second  year,  sympathy  becomes  so  strongly  established 
that  its  outward  evidences  are  sometimes  seen,  even  on 
occasion  of  the  imaginary  sufferings  of  inanimate  objects, 
and  pictorial  representation  of  suffering.  A  cliild  of  this 
age  cried  when  her  dolly  was  "hurt."  Sympathy  with 
human  beings  is,  however,  usually  much  stronger  than  ani- 
mal sympathy.  A  child  of  one  year,  who  returned  home 
after  a  short  absence,  took  no  notice  whatever  of  the  cat  or 
dog,  but  at  once  recognized  his  nurse  and  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  family  with  pleasure.  The  strength  of  human 
sympathy,  and  the  need  of  it  in  the  child,  is  seen  in  the  fact 
that  when  he  is  hurt,  he  rarely  cries,  unless  there  is  some 
one  near  at  hand  to  hear  him. 

If  we  speak  of  the  little  child  as  naturally  selfish  and 
egotistic,  it  must  be  with  certain  important  modifications. 
These  terms  cannot  be  applied  to  him  in  the  same  sense  as 
to  an  adult,  because  he  is  not  yet  in  possession  of  those  ideas 
of  property  upon  which  the  existence  of  genuine  selfishness 
depends.  The  words  "  mine  "  and  "  yours  "  have  at  the  first 
no  meaning  for  him ;  he  cannot  therefore  be  selfish  in  the 
sense  of  desiring  to  have  what  he  knows  to  belong  to  another. 


THE   FEELINGS.  87 

When  a  little  child  grasps  at  a  plaything  in  the  hands  of 
another,  he  is  simply  moved  by  the  overpowering  impulse 
to  seize  and  handle,  which  is  the  outcome  of  natural  curi- 
osity and  muscular  energy.  To  seize  and  handle  things  is 
a  constitutional  need  in  every  normal  child,  and  a  most  im- 
portant factor  in  his  development. 

Out  of  this  germ,  however,  there  develops  at  a  very  early 
age  the  proprietary  instinct,  and,  along  with  it,  the  opposite 
characteristics  of  genuine  selfishness  and  jealousy  on  the 
one  hand,  and  genuine  altruism  and  disinterested  generosity 
on  the  other.  And  it  would  be  untrue  to  say  of  the  average 
child,  that  he  is  wholly  controlled  by  either  one  of  these  pas- 
sions, to  the  exclusion  of  the  other.  An  impartial  diagnosis 
of  his  disposition  will  reveal  both  tendencies.  The  average 
child  develops  strong  evidences  of  jealousy  and  egotism. 
We  are  all  familiar  with  the  stormy  scenes  that  are  enacted 
when  the  child  of  two  or  three  years  of  age  is  called  upon 
to  share  with  a  little  brother  or  sister  those  attentions  which 
up  to  this  time  had  been  bestowed  exclusively  upon  himself. 
There  is  something  exceedingly  pathetic  in  the  genuine  pain 
and  sorrow  of  heart  which  he  experiences  when  he  finds 
himself  compelled  to  submit  to  these  new  and  unwelcome 
conditions. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  average  child  develops  unmistak- 
able evidences  of  a  genuine  altruism.  Any  carefid  observer 
of  childhood  may  notice  frequent  outbursts  of  spontaneous 
generosity  and  disinterested  affection,  whose  peculiar  charm 
lies  in  the  very  naivete  and  unconsciousness  with  which  they 
are  manifested.  I  give  one  example.  A  little  boy  of  three 
expressed  a  desire  to  give  some  of  his  toys  to  a  little  crip- 
pled neighbor  child,  who  had  no  playthings.  When  it  was 
suggested  to  him  that  he  might  give  some  of  his  old,  broken 
toys,  he  replied :  "  How  can  the  poor  little  cripple  boy  play 
with  broken  toys,  if  I  can't  ?  " 


CHAPTER  IV. 

VOLITION. 

We  now  approach  the  most  difficult  as  well  as  the  most 
important  part  of  our  subject :  the  most  difficult,  because  of 
the  exceedingly  complicated  character  of  every  act  of  will; 
the  most  important,  because  of  the  vast  influence  which 
any  one's  theory  of  volition  must  exert  upon  his  moral  and 
religious  ideas.  Not  only  is  it  true  that  "  a  being  is  capable 
of  education  and  morality  in  proportion  as  he  is  capable  of 
will,"  but  it  is  also  true  that  the  most  widely  separated 
views  touching  human  responsibility  and  destiny,  have 
grown  out  of  apparently  slight  differences  of  opinion  with 
regard  to  the  nature  and  freedom  of  the  will.  Tlie  follow- 
ing theories  are  quoted  to  show  the  trend  of  contemporary 
opinion  on  the  subject,  and  not  to  set  forth  the  present 
writer's  views. 

"  Out  of  the  desire  of  everything  that  has  once  occasioned 
pleasurable  feelings,  is  gradually  developed  tlie  child's 
will."  In  Preyer's  view,  the  will  is  called  into  life  by 

the  union  of  two  representations,  viz. :  1st,  that  of  the  end 
desired ;  2nd,  that  of  the  movement  necessary  to  attain  the 
end.  The  latter  is  not  absolutely  necessary,  and  at  a  later 
period  is  no  longer  formed,  except  in  the  case  of  new  move- 
ments. The  idea  of  the  end  is  sufficient,  without  that  of  the 
means.     Will,  then,  is  based  upon,  and  grows  out  of,  desire.^ 

^  Preyer's  theory  of  the  origin  of  will  is  not,  however,  an  empirical 
one,  as  the  following  quotation  will  show:  "It  is  an  error  to  think 

88 


VOLITION.  89 

In  Guyau's  opinion,  also,  a  complete  act  of  will  involves 
representations  of  two  sorts,  viz. :  Of  the  act  about  to  be 
performed,  and  of  another,  contrary  act,  which  might  have 
been  performed.  Action,  then,  is  the  resultant  of  a  struggle 
among  tendencies.^ 

Perez  says :  "  The  will  is  born  little  by  little  from  reflex, 
impulsive  and  instinctive  movements,  which,  with  the  prog- 
ress of  the  faculties  of  perception  and  ideation,  and  afte? 
having  been  for  a  long  time  executed  and  varied,  fall  under 
the  action  (coup)  of  the  attention,  and  become  conscious, 
reflected,  and,  in  a  word,  voluntary."  Will  in  its  negative 
form  (inhibition),  he  holds  to  be  also  a  matter  at  first  of 
mechanism,  unconscious  and  involuntary.  It  is  a  suppres- 
sion, or  at  least  a  reduction,  of  reflex,  impulsive  and  instinc- 
tive movements,  by  the  fact  of  an  excitation  of  the  brain,  a 
sensation.  Thus  arrest  consists  at  first  simply  in  the  sub- 
stitution of  one  tendency  for  another.^ 

Wundt,  on  the  contrary,  holds  that  there  is  no  such  thing 


that  the  will  arises  from  impressions  in  youth  ;  .  .  .  a  will  can  never 
be  created  in  a  child  from  external  experiences  ;  it  must  be  allowed  to 
develop  itself  from  the  inborn  germ  of  will." 

1  "La  pleine  volont6,  c'est-a-dire  le  d6ploiement  total  des  Energies 
intfirieures,  suppose  qu'i  la  representation  de  I'acte  meme  qu'on  va 
accomplir,  s'associe  la  representation  affaiblie  de  I'acte  contraire.  Et 
ainsi,  nous  arrivons  i  cette  conclusion  :  II  n'y  a  pas  d'acte  pleinement 
voluntaire  ou,  ce  que  revient  au  meme,  pleinement  conscient,  qui  ne 
soit  accompagnfi  du  sentiment  de  la  victoire  de  certaines  tendances 
iutSrieures  sur  d'autres,  cons6quemment  d'une  lutte  possible  entre  ces 
tendances,  consCquemment  enfin  d'une  lutte  possible  contre  ces  ten- 
dances" (Guyau), 

-  See  also  Ribot,  "  Les  Maladies  de  la  Volontfi,"  p.  8.  Bain,  "The 
Emotions  and  the  Will,"  Part  II.  Chap.  I.,  and  compare  Baldwin's 
"Deliberative  Suggestion,"  in  which  various  "coordinated  stimuli 
meet,  affront,  oppose,  further  one  another,  .  .  .  response  answering 
to  appeal  in  a  complex  but  yet  mechanical  way." 


90  THE   rSYCnOLOGY   OF    CHILDHOOD. 

as  purely  reflex  and  involuntary  consciousness ;  tliat  activity 
of  attention  is  in  some  degree  present  even  in  movements 
apparently  the  most  mechanical.^ 

Professor  James  lays  down,  as  the  distinguishing  mark  of 
voluntary  movements,  an  antecedent  desire  and  intention  to 
perform,  and  consequently  a  full  prevision  of  what  the 
action  is  to  be.  He  therefore  designates  voluntary  move- 
ments as  secondary  functions  of  our  organism,  while  "  reflex, 
instinctive  and  emotional  movements  are  all  primary  per- 
formances." He  makes  voluntary  movements  depend  on 
memory-images  of  former  involuntary  ones.  "  \Yhen  a  par- 
ticular movement,  having  once  occurred  in  a  random,  reflex 
or  involuntary  way,  has  left  an  image  of  itself  in  the  mem- 
ory, then  the  movement  can  be  desired  again,  proposed  as 
an  end,  and  deliberately  willed.  But  it  is  impossible  to  see 
how  it  could  be  willed  before.  A  supply  of  ideas  of  the 
various  movements  that  are  possible,  left  in  the  memory  by 
experiences  of  their  involuntary  performance,  is  thus  the  first 
prerequisite  of  the  voluntary  life." 

It  will  be  seen  that  all  these  views  corroborate  the  posi- 
tion taken  in  the  present  work,  that  mental  phenomena 
undergo  a  process  of  transformation,  in  virtue  of  which, 
from  being  predominantly  physiological,  they  become  pre- 
dominantly psychical.  We  see  now  the  application  of  this 
law  to  movements  or  actions.  The  earliest  cliild  movements, 
in  the  opinion  of  these  writers,  are  not  voluntary,  but  only 
reflex,  instinctive,  etc.  Intelligent  apprehension  of  the  end 
sought,  and  of  the  means  by  which  that  end  is  to  be  attained, 
has  not  yet  taken  place,  and,  we  may  add  that,  until  it  has 
taken  place,  the  movement  is  no  more  entitled  to  be  called  an 
action  than  is  the  swaying  of  a  branch  in  the  breeze,  or  the 
"  action  "  of  the  piston-shaft  of  a  locomotive.    The  conscious 

1  "Menschen  und  Thieraeelo." 


VOLITION.  91 

subject  must  first  take  hold  of  the  movement,  and  put  him- 
self forth  in  intelligent  direction  of  that  movement  toward 
a  conceived  and  desired  end,  and  then  it  becomes  transformed 
into  an  action.  It  seems  necessary  also,  in  order  to  avoid 
misunderstanding,  to  express  our  dissent  from  the  view  held 
by  some  of  these  writers,  that  the  will  is  a  derived  product, 
or  result  of  mechanical  movements,  a  something  which  has 
been  brought  to  the  birth  b}^  the  *' travail  together"  of 
accidental  motions  in  an  animal  organism.  It  is  an  obvious 
hyslerou  2»'o[eron  to  explain  the  rise  of  will  by  means  of 
this  principle  of  transformation,  while  the  only  possible  way 
of  explaining  the  transformation  is  by  positing  voluntary 
activity.  It  is  said,  for  example,  that  will  is  boi-n  (!)  little 
by  little  out  of  reflex  and  instinctive  movements,  which  have 
come  within  the  scope  of  the  attention;  and  again  that  will 
is  developed  out  of  the  desire  of  everything  that  has  occa- 
sioned pleasurable  feeling.  Now  both  attention  and  desire, 
as  we  understand  them,  are  impossible  without  volition. 
They  involve  active  direction  of  the  self  toward  the  object, 
and  this  is  volition.  So  far,  then,  from  being  the  ante- 
cedents of  will,  they  are  modes  of  its  manifestation,  and 
instead  of  ascribing  the  birth  of  will  to  the  transformation 
already  spoken  of,  in  virtue  of  which  movements  come 
within  the  scope  of  the  attention,  we  should  more  correctly 
ascribe  the  transformation  to  the  exercise  of  will.  The  will 
is  the  cause  and  not  the  effect  of  the  transformation.  It  is 
correct  enough  to  say  with  Preyer  that  will  is  developed  in 
connection  with  these  movements  and  desires  —  if  by  devel- 
opment  is  meant  only  groivtJi  and  not  genesis  —  but  when  it 
is  asserted  that  will  is  generated  out  of  actions  to  which 
attention  and  desire  are  directed,  it  is  only  necessary  to  ask : 
Out  of  Avhat  are  attention  and  desire  generated?  to  reveal  at 
once  the  insufficiency  of  the  explanation. 

This  criticism   is  all  the  more  necessary   here,  because 


92  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

Professor  Preyer's  classification  of  child-movements, — as 
the  most  scientific  and  exhaustive  yet  made, —  is  adopted  in 
the  following  pages.  It  can  be  accepted  in  toto,  as  a 
description  and  classification  without  our  subscribing  in  the 
least  to  any  particular  theory  of  will-genesis  that  may  have 
been  founded  upon  it.  The  classification  is  as  follows: 
First,  we  have  a  multitude  of  movements,  not  involving 
peripheral  stimuli,  but  proceeding  entirely  from  internal 
conditions.  They  are  simply  the  result  of  an  overflow  of 
nervous  energy,  and  require  only  motor  —  not  sensori-motor 
—  processes.  They  are,  of  course,  will-less,  and  are  desig- 
nated impulsive  movements.  Secondly,  we  have  those  move- 
ments (very  numerous  in  the  new-born)  which,  though 
requiring  peripheral  stimuli,  and,  therefore,  sensori-motor 
processes,  do  not  involve  active  attention  or  effort,  and  are, 
therefore,  will-less.  These  are  the  well-known  sensori- 
motor reflexes.  In  the  third  place,  there  is  a  kind  of  move- 
ments —  found  in  great  abundance  in  the  human  being,  and 
constituting,  probably,  the  majority  of  the  so-called  actions 
of  the  lower  animals  —  for  which  the  physical  and  emotional 
organism  is  specially  fitted  by  the  action  of  heredity.  These 
are  the  instinctive  movements.  Finally  there  supervene  on 
all  these  the  bona  fide  actions  of  the  person,  involving  desire 
of  end,  attention  to  the  object,  and  representation  of,  and 
deliberation  upon,  the  means  of  attainment,  as  well  as  the 
conscious  forth-putting  of  the  self  in  effort  towards  the  reali- 
zation of  the  represented  end.  These  are  the  ideational,  or 
consciously  deliberated  and  voluntary  movements.  We  shall 
consider  these  in  this  order,  only  premising  that  because 
any  given  movement  is  here  classed  as  impulsive  or  reflexive, 
it  does  not  necessarily  follow  that  it  is  never  to  be  found 
in  any  other  class.  A  movement,  the  same  outwardly,  may 
be  at  one  time  impulsive  and  at  another  ideational.  This 
is  one  application  of  the  principle  of  transformation. 


VOLITION.  93 

I.    Impulsive  Movements. 

The  majority  of  the  embyronic  movements  belong  to  this 
class.  From  the  time  of  "quickening,"  the  foetus  performs 
numerous  muscular  movements  (mostly  set  on  by  processes 
of  nutrition  and  circulation)  prior  to  the  first  exercise  of 
reflex  sensibility.  In  the  new-born  they  are  still  numerous, 
comprising  all  those  spontaneous  kickings  and  rollings, 
awkward  muscle-movements  and  comical  grimaces,  so 
noticeable  in  the  early  weeks  of  life.  The  hands  strike 
right  and  left  and  move  toward  the  face  without  any  definite 
object;  the  legs  tramp  and  kick  when  the  child  is  held  up 
in  the  air ;  the  eyes  may  be  observed  to  move  before  the  lids 
are  opened;  the  intra-uterine  posture  is  resumed  on  falling 
asleep;  the  limbs  are  stretched  on  awakening;  in  short, 
almost  every  muscle  of  the  body  is  exercised  without  any 
assignable  peripheral  stimulus.  The  movements  are  often 
symmetrical  (by  accident),  but  usually  at  first  asymmetri- 
cal. Some  of  them  (as  yawning  and  stretching)  persist 
through  life,  but  the  majority  have  disappeared  by  the  end 
of  the  second  year.  Many  of  them  are  unexpected  by  the 
child  himself;  he  is  evidently  surprised  to  find  himself  per- 
forming a  certain  movement,  and  afterwards  performs  it 
voluntarily,  with  numberless  repetitions,  and  evident  pride 
in  the  newly  discovered  ability. 

The  first  smile  doubtless  belongs  here,  as  also  the  peculiar 
crowing  heard  so  frequently  ii  the  first  year;  and  the 
numerous  "  accompanying "  movements  made  by  the  child 
(such  as  holding  the  hands  in  a  certain  strained  position, 
with  the  fingers  spread  out,  while  drinking,  and  the  dreamy, 
wandering  motions  of  the  eyes  during  the  act  of  sucking). 
A  sleeping  child  suddenly  threw  up  one  of  his  hands,  which, 
coming  into  contact  with  the  eye,  pushed  the  lid  open.  The 
infant  slept  on  with  one  eye  open, —  the  pupil  very  much 


94  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

contracted  —  until  by-and-by  the  hand  dropped  and  the  eye 
closed. 

Although  possessing  in  themselves  no  direct  volitional 
significance,  yet  these  impulsive  movements  are  indirectly 
of  great  importance,  inasmuch  as  they  are  the  rav/  materials, 
upon  which  the  gradually  awakening  child-will  exercises 
itself,  making  them  its  own,  and  transforming  them,  by 
means  of  conscious  activity,  into  voluntary  actions  properly 
so-called. 

II.    Keflex  Movements. 

These  occur  as  the  response  of  the  nervous  system  to 
peripheral  stimulation,  without  the  participation  of  the  idea. 
If  they  enter  into  consciousness  at  all,  it  is  only  during  or 
after  their  performance.  They  are  found  in  the  adult  in 
great  abundance  as  well  as  in  the  child;  and  are  very  well 
exemplified  in  the  sudden  movements  of  the  hands  when 
one's  hat  is  blown  otf  in  the  street.  Though  heredity  prob- 
ably plays  a  considerable  part  in  facilitating  them,  yet  they 
do  not  take  place  in  the  earliest  infancy  with  that  certainty 
and  promptness  by  which  tliey  are  characterized  in  later 
life,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  case  of  eye  movements.  What 
seems  to  be  transmitted  is  a  potentiality,  which  needs  expe- 
rience to  transform  it  into  an  actuality. 

The  law  of  transformation  has  an  obvious  application 
here.  Indeed  we  see  in  the  case  of  these  movements  a 
double  transformation:  that  which  was  at  first  a  reflex 
movement  becomes  afterwards  a  voluntary  one ;  and  finally, 
by  virtue  of  repetition,  leading  to  the  formation  of  a  habit, 
it  becomes  once  more  reflex  or  automatic.  Probably  all 
mouth  movements  involved  in  the  enunciation  of  articulate 
sounds,  pass  through  all  these  stages,  as  we  shall  see  later. 

Keflex  movements  are  of  great  importance  in  will-growth, 


VOLITION.  95 

since  upon  them  the  voluntary  movements,  properly  so-called, 
supervene.  On  its  negative  side  also  (i.e.,  in  inhibition) 
the  will  develops  chiefly  in  connection  with  the  repression 
of  reflexes. 

In  the  earlier  stages  of  foetal  life,  according  to  Preyer,  no 
reflex  movements  can  be  elicited,  be  the  stimuli  never  so 
strong  and  varied;  and  even  after  there  have  occurred  many 
movements  of  an  impulsive  nature.  But  reflex  excitabil- 
ity increases  very  rapidly  in  the  later  months,  even  gentle 
stroking  calling  forth  many  movements.  Swallowing  as  a 
reflex  occurs  at  this  time;  and  foetal  movements  can  be 
evoked  by  changes  of  temperature.  Champneys  says  the 
curling  up  of  the  toes,  and  jerking  away  of  the  foot  when 
the  sole  is  tickled  (which  ]\Ir.  Darwin  observed  on  <the 
seventh  day  of  life),  can  be  produced  in  utero.  Only  from 
the  beginning  of  extra-uterine  life,  however,  does  the  reflex 
activity  of  the  nervous  system  obtain  full  play.  And  here 
the  earliest  and  most  prominent  are  the  various  respiration 
reflexes.  The  first  cry  is  undoubtedly  of  this  character, 
since  brainless  children  make  themselves  heard  in  the  first 
minutes  of  life  as  well  as  normal  children.^  Sneezing,  too, 
which  in  many  new-born  children  takes  the  place  of  crying, 
is  a  pure  reflex,  as  it  continues  to  be  through  life,  though 
the  complex  coordination  of  many  muscles,  by  which  it  is 
accompanied,  is  not  so  complete  in  the  child  as  in  the  man. 
Other  reflex  movements  connected  with  respiration  are 
coughing,  wheezing,  choking,  laughing  when  tickled,  hiccough- 
ing, and  the  like,  all  of  which,  with  the  exception  of 
laughter,  may  probably  be  observed  in  the  first  week.  A 
striking  proof  of  the  reflex  sensibility  of  the  respiratory 
apparatus  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  a  noise,  just  loud  enough  not 

1  See  several  cases  cited  by  Taine,  "  Intelligeuce,"  Part  I.  Book  IV. 
Chap.  I. 


9G  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

to  awaken  the  sleeping  child,  has  the  effect  of  increasing  the 
rapidity  of  the  respirations. 

Starting  at  any  sound  or  jar,  does  not  occur  at  the  very 
iirst,  but  makes  its  appearance  early.  Generally  there  is 
silence  for  a  moment  after  the  disturbance,  as  though  the 
energies  were  temporarily  paralyzed.  Champneys  observed 
this  starting  first  in  the  fourth  week,  but  the  child  would 
not  start  twice  at  the  same  noise,  unless  it  was  very  loud. 
Children  are  very  susceptible  to  nervous  stimuli,  as  is  evi- 
dent from  the  frequency  of  convulsions  in  infant  life. 

Reflex  movements  of  the  Iwibs  are  numerous,  prompt  and 
early.  On  the  seventh  day  Darwin  tickled  the  sole  of 
his  child's  foot  with  a  piece  of  paper;  the  foot  was  jerked 
away  and  the  toes  curled  up.  He  remarks :  "  The  perfection 
of  these  involuntary  movements  shows  that  the  extreme 
imperfection  of  the  voluntary  ones  is  not  due  to  the  state  of 
the  muscles,  or  of  the  coordinating  centres,  but  to  tlmt  of 
the  seat  of  the  will."  On  the  fourth  day  another  child 
clasped  a  finger  laid  in  his  hand.  From  the  fourteenth 

day  on,  tickling  the  sleeping  child's  temple  was  followed 
by  a  movement  of  the  hand  toward  the  place,  though  the 
hand  did  not  always  find  the  right  spot.  The  left  hand 

did  not  always  respond,  in  Preyer's  experiments,  to  stimu- 
lus applied  to  the  left  side,  nor  the  right  hand  to  the  right 
side;  but  Pfliiger  found  the  responses  constant  in  this 
respect.^  There  seem,  indeed,  to  be  two  sorts  of  reflexes: 
tlie  inborn  (such  as  spreading  the  toes  on  tickling),  which 
occur  from  the  first  hour  of  life  with  pei'fect  regularity  and 
accuracy ;  and  the  acquired  reflexes,  which  are  neither  prompt 
nor  certain  at  first,  but  become  so  on  repetition. 

Very  important  in  this   connection  are  the  reflex  eye- 


1  So  also  Baldwin.    See  "  Infants'  Movements  "  in  Science.^  Jan.  8, 
1892. 


VOLITION.  97 

movements  of  the  new-born  child.  The  examples  given  in 
the  first  chapter  of  the  responses  of  the  infant  eye  to 
impressions  of  light, —  turning  towards  the  light,  following 
a  moving  light  or  brightly  colored  object,  etc., — are  mostly 
examples  of  reflex  movements,  as  are  also  those  movements 
of  the  eyes  which  follow  touch-impressions  on  the  lashes, 
lids,  etc.  According  to  Preyer,  there  are  "six  different 
regular  reflex  movements  from  the  optic  nerve  to  the  motor 
oculi  alone,  which  appear  in  the  case  of  light  impressions." 

Least  developed  of  all  in  the  earliest  period  are  the  pain- 
reflexes.  The  new-born  in  many  cases  makes  no  response 
whatever  to  the  prick  of  a  pin,  as  Genzmer  has  shown.  The 
response  takes  place,  however,  when  the  stimulus  is  such  as 
to  affect  a  large  number  of  nerve  end,s  at  the  same  time  (a 
slap  for  example).  This  tardiness  of  pain-reflexes  in  the 
new-born  does  not  show  that  he  is  insensible  to  pain, — 
though  he  is,  probably,  less  sensitive  than  the  adult  in  this 
respect, — but  simply  that  the  nerve  connections  which  make 
reflex  movements  possible,  are  in  the  case  of  pain  sensations 
less  developed  than  those  of  the  skin  and  mucous  membrane. 

Finally  the  inhibition  of  reflexes,  by  which  the  will  of  the 
child  develops  on  its  negative  side,  is  very  difficult,  and 
therefore  a  late  attainment.  In  one  case  it  was  observed  as 
early  as  the  tenth  month,  when  the  child  for  the  first  time 
restrained  his  excretions;  in  another,  during  the  first 
quarter  of  the  second  year,  when  the  child  checked  an 
impulse  to  scratch ;  and  in  a  third,  in  the  fifteenth  month. 
In  marked  contrast  to  this  is  the  inhibition  of  reflexes  in 
the  lower  animals,  where  it  often  takes  place  before  the  end 
of  the  foetal  period. 


98  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

III.    Instinctive  IMovements. 

These  differ  from  impulsive  movements  in  that  they  do 
not  occur  in  the  absence  of  appropriate  peripheral  stimuli. 
There  is  in  the  child  an  inborn  instinct  to  seize  with  the 
hand,  but  this  movement  takes  place  only  Avhen  the  palm 
comes  into  contact  with  an  object.  They  differ  from 
impulsive  movements  also  in  having  an  eyid  or  purpose, 
thoiigh  this  end  may  not  be  known  at  the  time  of  their  per- 
formance.^ Besides  the  stimulus,  they  require  a  certain 
emotional  condition.  The  child  in  a  sorrowful  frame  of 
mind  does  not  laugh  when  his  toes  are  tickled.  They  differ 
from  ideational  movements  in  the  absence  of  a  pattern,  and 
of  any  conscious  effort,  or  previous  representation. 

One  of  the  strongest  instincts  in  the  child  is  to  seize 
objects  and  carry  them  to  his  mouth.  Attempts  at  this  have 
been  observed  as  early  as  the  fourth  day.  This  propensity 
to  make  the  mouth  the  test-organ  for  all  sorts  of  objects, 
has  been  explained  by  the  hypothesis  that  the  lips  may  have 
been  used  in  conjunction  with  the  hands  in  an  earlier  period 
of  race-progress,  much  more  extensively  than  at  present. 
The  movements  of  the  hands  to  the  mouth  may  be  at  first 
accidental,  and  then  instinctive,  as  in  painful  teething.  It 
finally  becomes  reflex  through  the  formation  of  liabits- 
The  contraposition  of  the  thumb  in  seizing  objects  i? 
quite  slowly  learned  (in  one  case  as  late  as  the  12th  week). 
This  is  in  marked  contrast  to  the  facility  with  which 
young  monkeys,  less  than  a  week  old,  oppose  the  thumb 
in  seizing. 

As  to  the  rise  of  right  or  left -handedness.  Professor  Bald- 


1  "  Instinct  is  .  .  .  the  faculty  of  acting  in  such  a  way  as  to  pro- 
duce certain  ends  without  foresight  of  the  ends,  and  without  previous 
education  in  +he  performance." 


VOLITION.  99 

win  has  made  a  large  number  of  experiments,  whose  results 
may  be  summarized  as  follows: 

(1)  No  trace  of  preference  for  either  hand  was  discernible 
so  long  as  there  were  no  violent  muscular  exertions  made. 
In  over  2000  experiments,  one  hand  was  preferred  as  often 
as  the  other. 

(2)  Prom  the  sixth  to  the  tenth  month,  the  tendency  to 
use  both  hands  together  was  about  twice  as  great  as  the 
tendency  to  use  either  hand  alone.  (The  figures  are :  Num- 
ber of  experiments,  2187;  right  hand  used  alone  585  times, 
left  hand  alone  568  times,  both  hands  together  1034  times.) 

(3)  Right-handedness  developed  under  the  pressure  of 
muscular  effort.  Preference  for  the  right  hand  in  violent 
efforts  in  reaching  appeared  in  the  seventh  and  eighth 
months.  Experiments  made  in  the  eighth  month  gave  this 
result:  Right  hand  74,  left  5,  both  1.  Under  the  stimulus 
of  bright  colors,  the  right  hand  was  employed  84  times,  and 
the  left  hand  only  twice. ^ 

Often  there  is  a  period  of  left-handedness  in  children  who 
afterwards  become  right-handed.  Sigismund  believes  that 
most  children  up  into  the  third  year  prefer  to  use  both 
hands  together. 

Among  instinctive  mouth  movements  the  earliest  and 
most  perfect  is  sucking.  Sometimes,  however,  even  this 
movement  is  far  from  perfect  at  the  beginning.  Many  of 
the  earliest  efforts  are  quite  fruitless,  OAving  to  failure  in 
coordination.  This  movement  doul)tless  takes  place  before 
birth,  since  it  may  be  observed  from  the  first  moments  of 
life.     On  its  development,  Kussmaul  remarks  to  the  follow- 


1  Professor  Baldwin  sees,  in  the  fact  that  preference  for  the  right  hand 
was  developed  only  in  connection  with  muscular  effort,  an  argument 
in  favor  of  the  "  innervation  "  theory.  For  the  opposite  opinion  see  a 
short  article  by  Professor  James  in  Science,  1-4  Nov.,  1890. 


100  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

ing  effect:  An  advance  is  made  on  the  mere  reflexes  when 
the  child  sucks  the  finger  thrust  into  his  mouth,  or  the 
nipple  of  the  breast.  Here  we  have  not  only  sensation, 
awakening  movement,  but  also  feelings  of  pleasure  or  dis- 
pleasure, with  answering  endeavors  and  mental  representa- 
tions of  the  simplest  kind.  Finally  the  will  learns  to 
regulate  these  movements  in  the  interests  of  the  individual. 

Other  instinctive  mouth  movements  are  biting  (which 
begins  about  the  fourth  or  fifth  month,  and  supersedes  suck- 
ing from  the  tenth  month),  chewing  (which  is  performed 
•with  perfect  regularity  from  the  fourth  month),  grinding  the 
teeth  (which  is  quite  original,  and  probably  practiced  by  all 
babes  during  teething),  and  licking  (which  is  performed  in 
the  first  twenty-four  hours  "  hardly  less  adroitly  than  in  the 
seventh  month  "). 

Learning  to  walk  involves  a  whole  series  of  preliminary 
accomplishments,  first  among  which  is  the  ability  to  hold 
the  head  in  equilibrium,  which  may  be  accepted  as  the 
criterion  of  the  rise  of  voluntary  power.  This  is  usually 
accomplished  about  the  fourth  montli.  The  next  stage  is 
reached  a  month  or  two  later  in  the  ability  to  sit  alone 
upright.  When  this  is  successfully  accomplished  for  the 
first  time,  the  soles  of  the  feet  are  frequently  turned  towards 
each  other  —  a  partial  re-assumption  of  the  intra-uterine 
posture.  To  stand  alone  is  the  next  stage ;  and  any  one  who 
lias  watched  the  attempts  of  a  little  child  to  stand  upright 
and  walk  will  be  convinced  that  he  is  moved  to  this  by  a 
natural  instinct.^ 

It  is  an  important  epoch  in  a  child's  life  when  he  suc- 
ceeds in  standing  alone.     Whole  sets  of  muscles,  heretofore 

1  Sigismund  graphically  describes  the  child's  first  attempts  to  stand 
in  these  words:  "  Das  Kind  ist  solbst  von  seiner  Verwegenheit  iiber- 
rascht,  steht  angstlich  mit  weit  gestelltcn  Fussen,  und  lasst  sich  bald 
etwas  umsanft  nieder." 


VOLITION.  101 

scarcely  used,  are  now  brought  into  activity,  and  his  progress 
is,  from  this  time  on,  more  all-sided  and  symmetrical. 
Hitherto  his  locomotion  has  been  only  in  the  form  of  creep- 
ing (which  is  performed  in  a  great  variety  of  ways,  some 
children  paddling  straight  ahead  on  all  fours,  like  little 
quadrupeds,  some  hitching  along  in  an  indescribable  manner 
on  their  haunches,  and  some  going  backwards,  crab-fashion); 
but  for  the  child  who  has  learnt  to  stand  alone,  the  transi- 
tion to  walking  is,  in  a  very  literal  sense,  "only  a  step." 
The  first  conscious  steps  are  taken  very  timidly,  and  with  an 
evident  fear  of  falling.  But  frequently  the  first  steps  are 
taken  unconsciously.  Sometimes  a  child  who  has  learnt  to 
walk,  partially  or  wholly,  reverts  for  a  season  to  creeping, 
for  no  apparent  reason.  Children  who  have  older  brothers 
or  sisters  are  likely  to  walk  at  an  earlier  age  than  others,  on 
account  of  the  example  and  assistance  of  these  older  ones. 
At  first  the  feet  are  placed  disproportionately  wide  apart, 
giving  rise  to  a  curious  waddling  motion ;  while  sometimes 
a  child  runs  instead  of  walking,  and  staggers,  with  the  body 
inclined  forward,  and  the  hands  stretched  out  as  though  he 
were  afraid  of  falling,  the  feet,  too,  being  lifted  higher  than 
is  necessary.  Many  children  seem  more  amiable  after  they 
have  learned  to  walk,  doubtless  on  account  of  their  newly 
acquired  ability,  which  not  only  occupies  their  attention, 
but  enables  them  to  go  more  readily  to  the  objects  of  their 
desire. 

It  is  perhaps  scarcely  necessary  to  call  attention  to  the 
fact  that  a  movement  may  be  instinctive  and  yet  not  make 
its  appearance  at  the  very  beginning  of  life ;  nor  to  the  fact 
that  instincts  are  not  absolutely  invariable,  but  are  subject 
both  to  inhibition  by  habits  and  also  to  natural  decay  from 
desuetude.^ 


1  See  Professor  James'  chapter  on  Instinct,  "  Principles  of  Psychol- 
ogy," Vol.  XL 


102  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

IV.    Ideational  Movements. 

Finally,  in  virtue  of  the  aimless  and  will-less  execution  of 
vast  numbers  of  movements  of  the  nature  of  those  already 
treated, —  impulsive,  reflexive  and  instinctive, —  it  at  length 
comes  to  pass  that  movements  are  performed  which  are  the 
expression  of  the  conscious  self,  the  index  of  will  in  the  true 
and  only  proper  sense  of  the  word,  involving  a  previous 
representation  of  the  end  sought,  and  (in  their  earlier  stages) 
of  the  movements  involved  in  attaining  that  end,  as  well  as 
a  deliberate  forth-putting  of  the  self  in  conscious  effort 
towards  the  attainment.  To  such  movements,  and  to  such 
only,  should  the  name  of  actions  be  applied.  All  others  are 
only  movements.  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  little 
child  passes  per  saltum  from  the  condition  indicated  in  the 
previous  sections  of  this  chapter,  to  that  of  explicit  self- 
conscious  activity.  Indeed,  it  would  be  a  very  false  view 
of  child-development  that  represented  the  various  stages  as 
following  one  another  in  rigid  succession,  with  hard  and 
fast  lines  showing  where  the  one  ends  and  the  next  begins. 
They  are  rather  to  be  compared  to  surfaces,  whose  boun- 
daries, vaguely  outlined,  overlap  each  other.  There  are  a 
few  impulsive  movements,  and  very  many  reflex  and  in- 
stinctive ones,  persisting  to  the  end  of  life. 

We  shall  And  it  convenient  to  follow  Professor  Preyer's 
subdivision  of  ideational  movements  into  three  classes.  In 
the  lowest  class,  we  have  movements  of  imitation,  which, 
though  indicating  activity  of  will  (at  least  in  their  later 
stages),  yet  depend  on  a  model  or  pattern,  and  are  never 
performed  by  the  child  unless  he  first  observes  their  per- 
formance by  others.  Next,  we  have  expressive  movements, 
which,  as  the  name  indicates,  are  a  more  or  less  conscious 
expression  of  feelings  and  desires;  and  finally,  the  full- 
fledged  deliberative  actions. 


VOLITION.  103 

(a)  Imitative  Movements.  —  These  may  be  divided  into 
two  species,  viz. :  Simple  imitation,  in  which  the  movement 
is  only  an  approximate  imitation,  and  no  second  attempt  is 
made ;  and  ])ersistent  imitation,  "  which  marks  the  transition 
from  suggestion  to  will,  from  the  reactive  to  the  voluntary 
consciousness."  The  former  is  exemplified  in  the  single, 
isolated  attempt  on  the  child's  part  to  reproduce  a  sound 
made  by  another  person;  the  latter,  in  the  repeated  efforts 
of  a  girl  of  fourteen  months  to  put  a  rubber  on  a  pencil, 
after  having  seen  her  father  do  it,  or  of  a  boy  of  twelve 
months,  to  get  a  cord  into  the  hole  of  a  spool. 

Two  points  should  be  mentioned  before  we  proceed  to 
record  observations  in  this  connection.  First:  When  a 
child  for  the  first  time  voluntarily  imitates  a  given  move- 
ment, which  he  has  already  performed  involuntarily  a 
number  of  times,  he  does  it  far  less  perfectly  than  when  he 
did  it  without  conscious  imitation.  "  If  I  clear  my  throat, 
or  cough  purposely,  without  looking  at  the  child,  he  often 
gives  a  little  cough  likewise,  in  a  comical  manner.  But  if 
I  ask:  'Can  you  cough?'  he  coughs,  but  generally  copying 
less  accurately."  Second :  It  must  not  be  supposed,  even 

when  the  child  imitates  a  movement  deliberately  and  with  a 
clear  idea  of  it,  that  he  understands  in  every  case  the  mean- 
ing of  the  movement.  One  child,  in  the  tenth  month,  had 
learned  to  imitate  the  movement  of  beckoning,  but  he 
showed  by  the  expression  of  his  face  and  the  attendant  gest- 
ures, that  he  did  not  in  the  least  comprehend  the  significance 
of  the  beckoning. 

As  early  as  the  third  and  fourth  months,  according  to  one 
writer,  children  perform  little  tricks  which  indicate  the 
buddings  of  the  imitative  propensity.  Raw  attempts  at 
vocal  imitation  may  be  observed  even  in  the  second  month, 
when  the  child  makes  a  response  to  words  addressed  to  him. 
This,  however,  is  mechanical.     In  the  third  month  the  child 


104  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

will  imitate  looks,  i.e.,  he  will  look  at  an  object  which  Others 
are  looking  at.  Egger  saw,  in  the  sixth  month,  an  instance 
of  imitation,  together  with  the  act  of  recollection  which  it 
involves.  Champneys  says  of  his  child :  "  About  the  thir- 
teenth week  he  began  to  appear  to  attempt  to  join  in  con- 
versation, with  a  variety  of  articulate  sounds,  if  talking  was 
going  on  in  the  room."  Preyer  observes :  The  first  attempt 
at  imitation  occurred  in  the  fifteenth  week,  the  child  making 
an  attempt  to  purse  the  lips  when  one  did  it  close  in  front 
of  him.  In  the  seventeenth  week,  the  "  protruding  of  the 
tip  of  the  tongue  between  the  lips  was  perfectly  imitated 
once  when  done  before  the  child's  face,  and  the  child  in  fact 
smiled  directly  at  this  strange  movement,  which,  seemed  to 
please  him." 

There  is  no  point  on  which  I  find  so  much  uniformity  as 
this,  that  imitation  begins  during  the  second  half  of  the 
first  year.  This  is  true  of  almost  all  children  without 
exception,  so  far  as  I  know,  and  extends  not  only  to  move- 
ments proper,  but  also  to  vocal  imitation,  as  we  shall  see. 
A  boy  of  seven  months  tried  hard  to  say  simple  mono- 
syllables after  his  mother.  Another  is  reported  to  have 
accomplished  his  first  unmistakable  imitations  when  seven 
months  old,  in  movements  of  the  head  and  lips,  laughing, 
and  the  like.  Crying  was  imitated  in  the  ninth  month,  and 
in  the  tenth,  imitation  of  all  sorts  was  quite  correctly  exe- 
cuted, though  even  at  the  end  of  the  first  year  new  move- 
ments, and  those  requiring  complex  coordination,  often 
failed.  A  child  of  eight  and  a  half  months,  having  seen 
his  mother  poke  the  fire,  afterwards  crept  to  the  hearth, 
seized  the  poker,  thrust  it  into  the  ash-pan,  and  poked  it 
back  and  forth  with  great  glee,  chuckling  to  himself. 
Another  child,  in  his  tenth  month,  imitated  whistling,  and 
later,  the  motions  accompanying  the  familiar  "  pat-a-cake, " 
etc.     In  his  eleventh  month  he  used  to  hold  up  the  news- 


VOLITION.  105 

paper,  and  mumble  in  imitation  of  reading.  Another 

boy,  in  his  eleventh  month,  used  to  cough  and  sniff  like  his 
grandfather,  and  amused  himself  by  grunting,  crowing, 
gobbling  and  barking  in  imitation  of  the  domestic  animals 
and  birds.  A  little  girl  of  this  age  used  to  reproduce 

with  her  doll  some  of  her  own  experiences,  such  as  giving 
it  a  bath,  punishing  it,  kissing  it,  and  singing  it  to  sleep. 
One  fine  morning  in  May  I  took  the  little  boy,  R.,  for  a 
walk  through  a  beautiful  avenue,  where  the  trees  on  each 
side  met  overhead  in  a  mass  of  foliage.  These  trees  were 
full  of  birds,  busy  with  their  nest  building,  and  full  of  song. 
The  little  fellow  was  fairly  enchanted.  He  could  not  go 
on.  Every  few  steps  he  would  stop  (at  the  same  time  pulling 
at  my  hand  to  make  me  stop,  too),  and  looking  up  into  the 
trees,  with  his  head  turned  on  one  side,  would  give  back  the 
bird-song  in  a  series  of  warbling,  trilling  notes  of  indescrib- 
able sweetness.  I  very  much  doubt  whether  any  adult  voice, 
however  trained,  or  any  musical  instrument,  however  com- 
plicated, could  reproduce  those  wonderful  inflections.  The 
same  boy,  a  little  later,  used  to  imitate  with  his  voice  the 
boys  whistling  in  the  street,  giving  the  right  pitch. 
Another  boy,  at  thirteen  months,  brushes  his  hair,  tries  to 
put  on  his  shoes  and  stockings,  and  many  other  similar 
things.  Indeed  the  whole  life  of  the  child  of  this  age  is 

full  of  imitation.  Going  out  with  the  girl,  F.,  I  observed 
that  she  did  almost  everything  I  did ;  I  brushed  "some  dust 
from  my  coat  and  she  immediately  "brushed"  her  dress  in 
like  manner.  It  is  in  fact  difficult  fully  to  realize  how  the 
child  of  this  age  is  watching  our  every  movement,  and 
learning  thereby.  Not  only  parents  and  teachers,  but  every 
one  who  comes  in  contact  with  the  child,  even  casually  and 
occasionally,  contributes  his  share,  whether  he  will  or  not, 
in  the  child's  education.  The  moral  of  this  is  too  obvious 
to  require  repetition. 


106  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF  CHILDHOOD. 

(b)  Expressive  Movements.  —  These  arise  out  of  those 
already  treated  of.  Impulsive,  reflex,  instinctive  and  even 
the  simpler  imitative  movements,  are  not  intentional  expres- 
sions of  mental  states.  But  a  movement  which  was  at  flrst 
impulsive  or  reflex  may  become  the  manifestation  of  such 
states.  The  first  cry  and  the  flrst  puckering  of  the  mouth 
(which  Kussmaul  noticed  in  children  less  than  an  hour  old, 
when  a  bitter  substance  was  brought  into  contact  with  the 
tongue)  are  only  the  reaction  of  the  organism  to  external 
stimuli.  But  later,  both  the  cry  and  the  gesture  fall  within 
the  control  of  the  will,  and  are  transformed  into  the  pur- 
posive utterances  of  the  conscious  self.  Many,  perhaps 
most,  of  the  expressive  movements  are  impulsive  or  other 
movements  which  have  been  thus  transformed. 

The  first  so-called  smile,  for  example  (which  may  be 
observed  in  children  less  than  two  weeks  old),  is  simply  an 
impulsive  movement  resulting  from  agreeable  feeling;  and 
a  reflex  laugh  may  be  elicited  from  a  child  very  early  by 
tickling  the  soles  of  his  feet.  In  one  case  the  first  real 
smiles  were  observed  from  the  2Gth  day;  and  in  the  eighth 
week  enjoyment  of  music  was  manifested  by  laughing  and 
smiling,  accompanied  by  lively  movements  of  the  limbs,  and 
a  bright,  gleaming  expression  of  the  eyes.  The  imitative 
laugli  began  about  the  ninth  month.  Egger  thinks  the 

time  when  intelligence,  properly  speaking,  appears,  is  marked 
by  the  advent  of  tlie  laugh,  which  he  observed  for  the  first 
time  after  the  fortieth  day.  Sigismund  first  observed  a 
smile  in  the  seventh  week.  Many  children,  he  says,  smile 
first  in  sleep;  then  soon  after  in  response  to  the  friendly 
looks  of  others.  This  responsive  smile  he  believes  is  the 
first  sign  of  consciousness  of  and  response  to  sensations 
received  from  others.  Many  have  observed  the  smile  as 
early  as  the  second  and  third  or  even  the  first  week,  but  so 
far  as  I  am  aware,  no  one  attributes  conscious  expression  to 


VOLITION.  107 

the  smile  of  a  child  less  than  a  month  old.  Mr.  Darwin 
believes  he  saw  a  smile  of  mental  origin  on  the  forty-fifth 
day.  M.  Guyau  thinks  the  smile  is  reflex  in  its  origin. 
Tiedemann  observed  a  smile  in  the  second  month,  and  genu- 
ine laughter  in  the  third.  So  also  several  others.  The 
boy,  C,  laughed  aloud  when  being  undressed.  He  was  then 
three  months  old.  Three  weeks  later,  when  some  one  was 
reading  aloud,  he  laughed  and  cooed  until  the  reader  was 
obliged  to  stop.  He  evidently  thought  the  reading  was  in- 
tended for  his  special  entertainment.  A  boy  of  the  same 
age  laughed  aloud  one  day  without  any  apparent  cause  '■^\ 
The  psychic  development  of  the  smile  is  well  stated  in  the 
following  words :  "  The  smile  begins  when  the  infant  first 
begins  to  be  conscious  of  outside  things ;  attention  gradually 
becomes  closer  and  more  fixed;  the  smile  at  this  stage  is  the 
mere  stare,  vacant  at  first,  but  growing  steadily  more  intel- 
ligent and  wondering  in  its  appearance.  About  the  third 
week  this  begins  to  relax  very  slightly  into  the  appearance 
of  pleasure.  At  this  point  there  comes  first  more  and  more 
of  a  glow  on  the  face  —  a  beaming  —  then  in  a  day  or  two  a 
very  slight  relaxation  of  the  muscles,  increasing  every  day. 
This  dawning  smile  is  often  very  beautiful,  but  it  is  not  yet 
a  smile.  It  is  almost  a  smile,  but  I  am  confident  no  one 
will  ever  know  the  exact  day  when  the  baby  fairly  and 
intelligently  for  the  first  time  smilesP 

On  Pouting  and  Pursing  the  Lips  as  an  expressive  move- 
ment, Preyer  observes  in  substance :  There  are  three  sorts 
of  pouting,  differing  from  each  other  according  to  the  cause. 
First,  there  is  a  protrusion  of  the  lips,  which  may  be 
observed  in  some  children  from  the  first  hour  of  life,  and 
which  is  purely  impulsive.  Secondly,  the  pursing  of  the 
mouth  when  attention  is  closely  strained  (as  in  learning  to 
write  or  draw).  This  appears  as  early  as  the  fifth  week, 
and  continues  to  the  end  of  life  in  many  instances.     Thirdly, 


108  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

the  pout  of  sullenness,  which  makes  its  appearance  much 
later  than  the  others,  and  is  not  due  to  imitation  (for  it 
occurred  where  there  had  been  no  opportunity  for  imita- 
tion), but  is  undoubtedly  hereditary. 

The  kiss,  as  an  expressive  action,  is,  on  the  other  hand, 
not  hereditary,  but  acquired.  Some  nations  do  not  practice 
it.  The  child  has  to  learn  it,  and  he  is  somewhat  late  in 
learning  it,  as  observations  show.  Very  seldom  does  the 
child  understand  its  meaning,  or  give  it  spontaneously,  until 
the  second  year  of  life. 

The  child's  cry  is  at  first  not  expressive;  and  when  it 
becomes  so,  it  varies  greatly  in  different  children.  Accord- 
ing to  one  observer,  "Crying  took  place  at  first  without  any 
squaring  of  the  mouth,  the  sound  was  that  of  'nga'  as 
expressed  in  German.  It  must  have  been  produced  by  clos- 
ing the  fauces  by  contact  of  the  pillars  of  the  fauces  and  the 
soft  palate,  so  as  to  send  all  the  sound  through  the  nose. 
Vowel  sounds  were  then  produced  by  separating  the  soft 
palate  and  the  pillars  of  the  fauces,  and  allowing  the  sound 
to  come  through  the  mouth."  He  goes  on  to  say  that 

the  child  seemed  to  cry  at  first  for  three  reasons :  Loneliness 
or  fright,  hunger,  or  pain ;  and  these  cries  seemed  all  differ- 
ent in  character;  but  he  does  not  say  when  this  difference 
became  apparent.  The  first  crying  is  only  squalling;  it 
has  no  expressive  intonations.  The  transition  from  the 
meaningless  cry  to  the  significant  voice,  with  different  cries 
to  express  different  mental  states,  has  been  observed  as 
early  as  the  second  month,  and  in  other  cases  during  the 
third  month.  The  little  girl  W.,  when  four  months  old, 
"  expressed  hunger  by  cries  that  were  short  and  shrill,  fol- 
lowing each  other  rapidly,  and  not  so  loud  as  other  cries."  ^ 

1  For  further  remarks  on  this  transition  from  the  meaningless  to 
the  significant  cry  see  Chap.  V-,  sec.  III. 


VOLITION.  109 

Weeping.  —  The  new-born  do  not  shed  tears,  no  matter 
how  hard  they  cry.  At  a  later  period  they  cry  and  weep 
together,  and  they  can  also  cry  without  weeping.  But  to 
weep  without  crying  comes  much  later,  and  is  compara- 
tively rare  in  childhood.  One  or  two  cases  are  reported  of 
tears  being  shed  by  children  two  weeks  old,  but  most  of  the 
observations  point  to  a  later  date.  In  one  case  the  first 
tears  were  shed  at  the  end  of  the  third  week,  in  another  in 
the  fourth  week,  while  in  other  cases  tears  were  seen  to  flow 
down  the  face  in  the  sixth,  ninth,  twelfth,  fourteenth,  fif- 
teenth and  sixteenth  weeks  respectively.  Darwin's  child 
shed  tears  in  the  twentieth  week,  but  as  early  as  the  tenth 
his  eyes  were  moist  in  violent  crying.  He  thinks  that 
children  do  not  usually  shed  tears  until  the  second,  third  or 
fourth  month.  From  the  second  year  onward,  children 
weep  much  more  easily  than  at  an  earlier  period,  and,  later 
still,  the  inhibition  both  of  tears  and  crying  is  a  significant 
mark  of  the  growing  power  of  the  will. 

Nodding  the  head  in  assent,  and  shaking  it  in  refusal,  are 
at  first  entirely  different  from  each  other  in  mental  signifi- 
cance. The  latter  is  an  in-born  reflexive  or  instinctive 
movement,  while  the  former  is  acquired.  The  child  who 
has  satisfied  his  hunger,  will  turn  his  head  from  side  to 
side  in  refusal  of  further  proffered  nourishment  when  less 
than  a  week  old.  This  movement  becomes  expressive  almost 
from  the  first.  It  is  generally  accompanied  by  the  partial 
closing  of  the  eyes,  and  often  by  arm-movements  of  "  ward- 
ing off."  Nodding  in  one  case  was  not  imitated  until  the 
fourteenth  month,  and  even  then  very  imperfectly.  Even 
after  it  was  finally  learnt,  its  meaning  was  often  confounded 
with  that  of  shaking  the  head.  The  child  would  shake  his 
head  for  "yes,"  and  nod  it  for  "no."  In  another  case,  both 
nodding  and  shaking  the  head  had  become  expressive  by 
the  fifteenth  month. 


110  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

Other  examples  of  expressive  movements  wliicli  may  be 
observed  in  children  at  a  very  early  age,  are  the  following: 
Clasping  the  hands  together,  or  waving  them  very  quickly 
back  and  forwards,  or  up  and  down,  to  express  eager  desire 
for  something;  reaching  out  with  uplifted  hands  and  ex- 
tended arms  for  the  same  purpose,  or  even  sometimes  clap- 
ping the  hands  quickly  together,  after  the  manner  of  an 
"encore;"  violent  straightening  of  the  back  in  anger;  a 
curious  bearing,  almost  indescribable,  showing  vanity;  be- 
sides several  gestures  expressive  of  affectation,  and  a  variety 
of  facial  expressions  and  vocal  inflections  impossible  to 
describe.  "Jealousy,  pride,  pugnacity,  covetousness,  lend 
to  the  childish  countenance  a  no  less  characteristic  look 
than  do  generosity,  obedience,  ambition."  All  these  facial 
expressions  and  bodily  movements  "appear  in  greater  purity 
in  the  child,  who  does  not  dissemble,  than  they  do  in 
later  life. 

(c)  Deliberative  Movements. — finally  we  reach  that 
stage  —  not  necessarily  svibsequent  to  all  the  others,  but 
partially  synchronous  with  them  —  in  which  the  will  rises 
to  its  proper  place  as  "master  of  ceremonies,"  brings  into 
subjection  the  impulsive  and  instinctive  tendencies  of  which 
we  have  spoken,  and  assumes  control  of  the  child's  activities. 
To  express  this  truth  by  saying  that  the  faculty  of  will  has 
come  into  being,  is  misleading,  simply  because  there  is  no 
"  faculty  "  of  will  considered  as  a  separate  entity.  The  will 
is  the  person  considered  as  active;  and,  instead  of  saying 
that,  with  the  advent  of  what  we  call  ideational  movements, 
the  will  is  born,  and  with  that  of  deliberative  movements  it 
is  perfected,  it  would  be  more  correct  to  say  that  these  move- 
ments are  the  first  outward  indications  that  the  child  is 
becoming  the  conscious  master  of  his  own  activity. 

In  order  to  perform  deliberative  or  voluntary  actions  in 


VOLITION.  Ill 

the  proper  sense  of  tlie  term,  it  is  necessary  tliat  the  child 
should  have  had  experience  of  a  large  number  of  movements 
of  the  involuntary  sort.  For,  like  the  man,  he  can  create 
nothing;  the  most  he  can  do,  is  to  combine  and  sejjarate,  to 
analyze  and  sythesize  the  materials  that  come  to  his  hand. 
Man's  greatest  achievements  consist  simply  in  modifying, 
changing,  separating,  combining  and  rearranging  familiar 
material.  So  the  child  in  all  his  numerous  movements 
accomplishes  nothing  absolutely  new;  he  only  uses  old 
movements,  varying  them  it  is  true,  in  numberless  ways, 
but  really  adding  nothing  of  his  own  creation.  Therefore 
the  exercise  of  voluntary  activity  requires  memory  of  invol- 
untary muscular  movements  previously  executed.  For  a 
voluntary  movement  is  one  which  is  pictured  beforehand  in 
the  imagination,  or,  if  the  movement  itself  be  not  thus  pic- 
tured, the  end  of  the  movement,  at  least,  must  be.  But  in 
order  to  represent,  we  must  first  p?'ese?i? ;  or  in  other  words, 
in  order  to  imagine  a  movement,  either  in  process  or  in 
product,  that  movement  must  first  have  been  perceived ;  and 
this  means  that  the  child  must  have  seen  it  performed  by 
others,  and  felt  it  performed  by  himself  —  invohmtarily  — 
before  he  could  perform  it  deliberately.  So  Ave  find  that 
deliberative  movements  are  gradually  acquired,  and  super- 
vene upon  a  vast  number  of  impulsive,  reflexive  and  instinc- 
tive movements.  For  example,  grasping  with  the  hand  is 
at  the  beginning  a  pure  reflex,  as  we  have  seen,  but  gradu- 
ally, after  many  repetitions,  this  movement  is  remembered; 
actual  performance  of  the  movement  has  led  to  the  formation 
of  a  mental  image  of  it,  as  well  as  a  more  perfect  physio- 
logical adjustment  favoring  its  performance.  So  that  when 
desire,  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  word,  takes  place,  atten- 
tion is  bestowed  upon  the  object  sought  and  on  the  movement 
involved,  and  the  action  is  deliberately  performed.  So  we 
see  that  a  strictly  deliberative   movement  —  an  action  — 


112  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

presupposes  desire,  attention  and  memory-images.  It  is 
therefore  not  to  be  expected  that  we  shall  find  bona  fide 
actions  in  very  young  infants.  Preyer  found  no  movement 
in  the  first  three  months  which  could  be  announced  with 
absolute  certainty  as  a  deliberative  movement.  Tiedemann 
saw  the  first  intended  holding  of  objects  in  the  fourth  month. 
Another  child,  at  six  months,  showed  a  great  deal  of  per- 
sistent effort.  "  He  would  over  and  over  again  seem  to  be 
trying  to  solve  the  problem  of  the  hinge  to  his  nursery 
door,  patiently  and  with  rivetted  attention  opening  and 
shutting  the  door.  Day  after  day  saw  him  at  his  self- 
appointed  task."  A  boy  of  eleven  months,  in  striking 
a  spoon  against  another  object,  would  suddenly  change  it  to 
the  other  hand,  apparently  testing  whence  the  noise  pro- 
ceeded. When  fourteen  months  old,  while  playing  with  a 
tin  can,  he  put  the  cover  on  and  off  "  not  less  than  seventy- 
nine  times  without  stopping  a  moment,  his  attention  mean- 
time strained  to  the  utmost."  Indeed  the  child's  attention 
seems  capable  of  surprising  prolongation  in  connection  with 
muscular  movement.  A  little  girl  of  nineteen  months 
brought  out  her  toy  blocks  to  show  me.  I  helped  her  to 
build  houses  with  them.  Delighted  with  this  play,  she 
showed  a  surprising  persistence;  and  when  I  grew  tired  and 
wished  to  stop,  she  made  me  keep  on  longer.  It  is  by 
means  of  this  incessant  activity  that  the  child  develops 
both  mentally  and  physically. 

The  ability  to  inhibit  movements,  though  often  difiicult 
to  observe  with  accuracy,  seems  to  me  one  of  the  most  cer- 
tain criteria  of  the  presence  of  will.  To  keep  himself  from 
moving  is  surely  more  difficult  than  to  move,  in  a  being  so 
constitutionally  restless  as  the  average  child.  Children  of 
five  months,  others  of  six,  and  others  of  seven  or  eight 
months,  have  been  observed  to  refrain  from  reaching  for 
an  object  that  was  much  beyond  their  reach.     The  little 


VOLITION.  113 

boy  R.,  when  threatened  with  punishment  for   continued 
crying,  is  able  to  desist. 

The  development  of  desire  and  attention  has  perhaps  been 
sufficiently  indicated  in  the  foregoing  paragraphs.  Desire, 
in  the  proper  sense  of  the  word,  is  the  primary  stage  in 
every  volition;  and  no  volition  can  take  place  without  atten- 
tion. The  child's  attention  is  comparatively  weak  and  inter- 
mittent. He  cannot  attend  to  the  unimpressive,  the  stimulus 
must  be  strong,  must  be  on  the  motor  side,  and  must  be 
frequently  renewed.  His  attention  is  very  easy  to  obtain, 
but  very  hard  to  retain.  This  double  fact  in  his  nature 
renders  him  capable  of  education,  but  at  the  same  time  makes 
his  education  a  gradual  process,  which  must  consist  largely 
in  the  formation  of  right  habits  in  him  through  imitation, 
to  which,  as  we  have  seen,  he  is  so  excessively  prone. 
M.  Guyau  indeed  goes  so  far  as  to  say  that  by  a  judicious 
use  of  the  child's  susceptibility  to  imitative  suggestion,  we 
may  make  of  him  almost  what  we  please.  And  this  seems 
indeed  not  far  from  the  truth,  when  we  consider  the  child's 
wonderful  susceptibility  to  every  passive  impression,  and 
his  no  less  wonderful  predisposition  to  reproduce  it  in  his 
own  untiring  activity. 


SIAIi 


\y' 


CHAPTER  V. 

LANGUAGE.i 

The  profound  psychogenetic  significance  of  the  language 
function,  not  only  as  an  index  of  mind  development,  but 
also  as  2i  factor  in  that  development,  justifies  its  treatment 
in  a  separate  chapter.  Such  separate  treatment  would  not 
otherwise  be  justifiable,  inasmuch  as  language  does  not  con- 
stitute a  new  psychic  phenomenon,  or  class  of  phenomena, 
differing  in  any  essential  respect  from  those  already  treated. 
It  rather  partakes  of  the  nature  of  them  all,  and  consti- 
tutes a  grand  product  of  their  conjoint  operation. 

In  order  to  the  employment  of  language  of  any  sort,' 
there  must  be,  in  the  first  place,  sensation.  If  sounds  are 
to  be  intelligently  uttered,  they  must  first  be  heard.  The 
child  who  is  born  deaf,  and  continues  in  that  condition,  does 

1  This  chapter  first  appeared  as  an  article  entitled,  "  The  Language 
of  Childhood,"  in  the  American  Journal  of  Psychology,  Vol.  VI.  No.  I. 

2  Althou.2:h  our  chief  attention  is  occupied  here  with  the  spoken 
■word,  this  is  by  no  means  the  only  form  of  language.  In  its  broadest 
sense,  language  includes  every  means  by  which  thought  is  communi- 
cated ;  and  therefore  the  gestures  of  the  deaf-mute,  and  the  hieroglyphic 
characters  on  Egyptian  monuments,  as  well  as  the  written  manuscript 
and  the  printed  page,  are  as  really  language  as  the  most  eloquent  oral 
paragraphs,  because  they  are  the  expression  of  some  one's  thought.  As 
Broca  says,  language  is  "  the  faculty  of  establishing  a  constant  rela- 
tion between  an  idea  and  a  sign,"  whatever  that  sign  may  be.  All 
that  can  be  said,  therefore,  concerning  the  psychological  importance 
of  the  spoken  word,  applies  equally,  mutatis  m,utandis,  to  every  other 
means  of  communication. 

114 


LANGUAGE.  115 

not  learn  to  speak.  In  the  second  place,  language  presup- 
poses perception  and  judgment.  The  sounds  must  not  only 
be  heard,  they  must  be  understood.  A  meaning  must  be 
attached  to  them.  Otherwise  they  will  never  be  given  back 
by  the  child  as  the  expression  of  his  thought ;  i.e.,  as  his 
language.  In  the  third  place,  it  is  essential  to  any  advance 
beyond  the  merest  linguistic  rudiments,  that  abstraction  and 
generalization  take  place ;  for  the  communication  of  thought, 
in  its  highest  forms,  cannot  take  place  until  there  has  been 
attained  the  comprehension  of  the  general  as  distinguished 
from  the  particular,  and  of  the  abstract  as  distinguished 
from  the  concrete.^  Finally,  passing  from  the  cognitive  to 
the  volitional  aspect  of  mind,  it  is  obvious  that  language, 
in  its  most  essential  characteristic  —  i.e.,  as  expression  — 
belongs  to  the  will.  \  Every  expression  of  thought,  whether 
it  be  word  or  mark  or  gesture,  is  the  result  of  an  act  of  will, 
and  as  such  may  be  classed  among  movements. 

It  is  not,  therefore,  as  constituting  a  new  order  of  facts, 
different  from  thoughts  and  feelings  and  volitions,  but  rather 
as  illustrating  the  development  of  these,  and  entering  as  a 
factor  in  that  development,  that  language  receives  this  sep- 
arate place.  /  We  judge  of  the  child's  mental  development 
largely  by  the  rapidity  of  his  progress  towards  a  skiUful 
manipulation  of  the  instruments  of  expression.     \ 

I.   Heredity  vs.  Education  in  Language. 

There  is  no  psychological  problem  to  the  solution  of  which 
a  study  of  the  infant  mind  may  be  expected  to  contribute 
more  largely  than  this :     What  is  hereditary,  and  what  is 


1  On  the  other  hand,  thought  itself  cannot  attain  to  any  great  degree 
of  generality  without  the  aid  of  language.  Thought  aud  language  are 
mutually  helpiul,  aud  couduce  each  to  the  development  of  the  other. 


116  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

acquired,  in  the  sphere  of  language  ?  Long  before  maturity 
is  attained,  such  an  abundance  of  acquired  material  has  been 
udded  to  our  original  store,  and  through  constant  repetition, 
the  two  have  become  so  transformed,  modified  and  assimi- 
lated in  character,  that  we  are  no  longer  able  to  distinguish 
the  one  from  the  other.  But  from  the  beginning  it  was  not 
so.  If  a  child  executes  a  gesture,  or  utters  a  sound,  at  an 
age  so  early  as  to  exclude  the  possibility  of  imitation  or 
spontaneous  invention  on  his  part,  we  may  conclude  that 
the  sound  or  the  gesture  —  or,  at  least  the  disposition  to 
express  himself  in  this  manner  —  has  been  born  with  him. 
Here  only,  then,  are  we  able  to  apply  the  logical  method  of 
difference  to  the  solution  of  the  problem. 

It  is  obvious  at  a  glance,  that  speech  is  a  product  of  the 
conjoint  operation  of  these  two  factors :  heredity  and  edn^ 
cation.  If,  on  the  one  hand,  we  observe  the  initial  babbling 
of  the  infant,  and  notice  its  marvelous  flexibility,  and  the 
enormous  variety  of  its  intonations  and  inflections  —  and 
this  at  an  age  so  early  as  to  preclude  observation  and  imita- 
tion of  others,  —  it  will  be  apparent  that  the  child  has  come 
into  the  world  already  possessing  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  equipment  by  which  he  shall  in  after  years  give  expres- 
sion to  his  feelings  and  tlioughts.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
we  carefully  observe  him  during  the  first  two  years  of  his 
life,  and  note  how  the  intonations,  and  afterwards  the  words, 
of  those  by  whom  he  is  surrounded,  are  given  back  by  him 
—  at  first  unconsciously,  but  afterwards  with  intention  — 
and  how,  when  conscious  imitation  has  once  set  in,  it  plays 
thenceforth  the  preponderating  rdle,  —  we  shall  readily  be- 
lieve that,  without  this  second  factor,  but  little  progress 
would  be  made  towards  speech-acquirement. 

It  may  be  well  to  consider  briefly  how  these  two  factors 
enter  at  every  point  in  the  development  of  language.  For 
example,  in  order  to  speak,  the  child  must  possess  first  of 


LANGUAGE.  117 

all  a  sensory  and  motor  physiological  apparatus.  This  phys- 
iological apparatus,  including  the  auditory  structure  for  the 
reception  of  sounds,  the  inter-central  and  centro-motor  cells 
and  nerve  tracts  for  the  accomplishment  of  connection  be- 
tween the  impression  and  the  expression,  and  the  organs  of 
vocal  utterance  (larynx,  palate,  tongue,  lips,  teeth),  is  his 
inheritance  from  the  past ;  but  in  the  new-born  child  it  is 
all  imperfect,  both  in  structure  and  in  functioning;  and  its 
development  requires  the  constant  moulding  injBuence  of 
those  educating  agencies  by  which  the  human  being  is  sur- 
rounded from  the  moment  of  his  entrance  into  the  world. 

Again,  the  disposition  to  utter  sounds  of  all  sorts,  and  to 
express  states  of  feeling  by  them,  is  undoubtedly  inherited, 
since,  from  the  very  beginning  of  life,  and  quite  indepen- 
dently of  all  example,  the  child  constantly  exercises  his  vocal 
organs.^  But  in  spite  of  this,  so  inadequate  is  heredity 
alone,  that  the  child  will  not  learn  the  language  of  his  par- 
ents, unless  he  be  in  the  society  of  those  who  employ  it. 
If  brought  up  among  savages,  he  will  speak  their  language; 
if  among  wolves,  he  will  howl.^ 

In  making  this  statement,  we  do  not  overlook  those  re- 
markable eases  in  which  children  have  invented  a  language 
of  their  own,  quite  different  from  that  spoken  around  them ; 
and  persisted  for  some  time  in  using  the  former  and  entirely 
ignoring  the  latter.  Mr.  Horatio  Hale  gives  an  account  of 
five  different  cases  in  which  this  has  occurred,  two  in  the 
United  States  and  three  in  Canada.  In  one  case  this  in- 
vented vocabulary  consisted  of  twenty-one  root-forms,  out 

1  "  Le  langage  est  en  nous  une  faculty  si  naturelle,  que  dhs  la  prem- 
iere enfance,  I'exercer  est  un  besoin  et  un  plaisir."  — Egger. 

2  "  It  is  found  that  young  birds  never  have  the  song  peculiar  to  their 
species,  if  they  have  not  heard  it ;  whereas,  they  acquire  very  easily 
the  song  of  almost  any  other  bird  with  which  they  are  associated."  — 
Alfred  Russell  Wallace^  Natural  Selection. 


118  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

of  which,  by  combination  and  modification,  the  children 
developed  a  complete  language,  by  which,  with  the  aid  of 
gesture,  all  their  wants  could  be  communicated ;  and  in  all 
the  cases  the  invented  language  was  sufficient  for  all  inter- 
course as  between  the  children  themselves;  and  was  per- 
sistently used  until  the  children  were  finally  broken  of  it, 
by  being  separated  or  sent  to  school.  In  all  these  cases, 
it  is  to  be  observed,  the  child  did  not  learn  the  language 
of  his  parents  in  the  absence  of  those  who  employed  it.  It 
is  also  to  be  noted  that  the  new  language  was  invented,  not 
by  one  child,  but  by  two.  Language  is  2yossible  in  all  normal 
children ;  it  becomes  actual  only  in  the  presence  of  a  com- 
panion. But  given  the  companion,  and  scarcely  any  limit 
can  be  set  to  the  possibilities  of  development.  Indeed,  Mr. 
Hale  has  given  us  a  theory  of  language,  in  which  the  origin 
of  linguistic  stocks  is  attributed  to  the  inventiveness  of 
children  who  have  become  separated  from  their  tribe  when 
very  young;  and  in  the  light  of  such  facts  as  those  given 
above,  the  theory  seems  highly  probable.  On  the  other 
hand,  that  the  child  shall  speak  any  specific  tongue  now 
existing,  depends  on  his  education.  He  does  not  inherit 
any  particular  tongue  or  dialect.  Some  think  he  will  acquire 
his  mother-tongue  with  greater  facility  than  any  other,  yet 
even  this  may  be  doubted.  "  Speech  is  hereditary,  but  not 
any  particular  form  of  speech."'  There  may  be  an  in- 

herited tendency  to  find  certain  sounds  difficult,  such  as  sh 
to  the  ancient  Epliraimite,  or  th  to  the  modern  Frenchman, 
but  this  is  only  a  tendency,  and  does  not  prevent  the  child 
from  learning  any  language  perfectly,  if  his  education  begins 
early  enough. 
I  Again,  the  careful  study  of  the  language  of  signs  makes 
i  it  quite  clear  that  many  gestures  are  inherited  (e.g.,  holding 
out  the  hands  to  express  desire,  which  is  world-wide,  and 
is  executed  by  children  who  have  never  seen  it  done),  but 


LANGUAGE.  119 

the  development  of  gesture  into  anything  like  a  complicated 
system  of  expression,  is  quite  dependent  on  the  social  en- 
vironment. '  Of  course  this  is  only  another  way  of  saying 
that  language,  being  the  instrument  for  the  communication 
of  thought,  is  not  developed  in  the  absence  of  beings  to 
whom  thought  can  be  communicated. 

Thus,  then,  the  case  seems  to  stand  with  regard  to  the 
respective  spheres  of  heredity  and  education  in  the  produc- 
tion of  language.  As  regards  the  child's  present  endowment 
and  capabilities  at  the  moment  of  his  entrance  into  the 
world,  "he  is  the  product,  the  result  of  the  generations 
which  have  preceded  him ;  he  is  the  visible  link  which  con- 
nects the  past  with  the  future ;  "  but  with  regard  to  that 
■which  he  is  to  be,  and  the  legacy  which  he  in  his  turn  shall 
transmit  to  those  who  shall  succeed  him,  he  is  very  largely 
dependent  on  his  physical  and  social  environment ;  and  all 
those  who  compose  that  environment,  assist,  whether  they 
will  or  no,  in  his  education.^ 


II.   The  Physiological  Development. 

If  the  question  were  asked,  "  Why  does  not  the  new-born 
child  talk  ? "  two  answers  might  be  given.  In  the  first 
place,  there  is  a  psychological  reason,  viz.,  he  has,  as  yet, 
no  ideas,  and  has,  therefore,  nothing  to  say.  In  the  sec- 
ond place,  there  is  a  physiological  reason,  viz.,  his  speech- 
apparatiis  is  as  yet  so  imperfectly  developed  that  he  covdd 
not  express  ideas  if  he  had  them. 

In  the  same  way,  if  the  question  were  asked,  Why  does 

1  "  La  m6re,  au  teste,  ou  la  nourrice,  ne  sont  ici  que  des  institutrices 
en  chef ;  car  tous  ceux  qui  entourent  IVnfant  au  berceau  qui  con- 
versent  en  sa  pr6sence,  participent,  sans  s'en  douter,  ii  cette  6ducatiou 
fondamentale  "  (Degerando). 


120  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF  CHILDHOOD. 

any  person  ever  lose  the  power  of  speech  ?  similar  answers 
might  be  given.  He  either  loses  his  ideas,  through  some 
mental  disorder,  or  he  loses  the  power  of  expression  through 
some  physiological  disorder.  The  two  cases  are,  moreover, 
parallel  in  another  sense,  inasmuch  as  the  acquirement  of 
ideas  in  the  one  case,  and  their  failure  in  the  other,  are 
closely  associated  with,  if  not  indeed  quite  dependent  upon, 
the  presence  or  absence  of  the  physiological  functions. 

The  physiological  reason,  then,  why  the  child  does  not 
yet  speak,  lies  in  the  undeveloped  state  of  the  speech- 
apparatus.  "  The  lungs  are  not  yet  developed  in  a  degree 
and  manner  sufficient  for  articulate  speech.  The  expiration 
needs  to  be  strong,  and  exactly  regulated.  Now,  in  the 
infant,  the  pectoral  muscles  are  still  developed  in  a  very 
small  degree;  the  breathing  is  accomplished  much  more 
througli  the  fall  of  the  diaphragm  than  through  the  active 
extension  of  the  pectoral  cavity.  Hence,  breathing  move- 
ments are  more  superficial  and  more  irregular  than  in  later 
years.  Artificial  speech  requires  complete  control  of  the 
breathing  mechanism,  which  the  child  has  not  yet  got.  To 
his  speech-instrument  is  still  wanting  a  large  number  of 
strings,  whistles  and  registers.  The  organs  of  speech  are 
the  lungs,  air  tubes,  larynx  and  vocal  cords,  the  mouth, 
with  tongue,  palate,  lips  and  teeth.  The  lungs  create  the 
stream  of  air;  the  tone  and  voice  are  formed  by  the  larynx ; 
according  as  the  vocal  cords  open  wider  or  come  nearer, 
arises  the  deeper  or  higher  tone.  The  form  of  the  tone 
{i.e.,  vowel  a  or  o,  etc.,  consonant  h  or/,  etc.)  depends  on 
the  form  of  the  mouth  at  the  time.  Now  the  larynx  is  still 
very  small  and  undeveloped  in  its  form,  and  so  with  the 
tongue,  the  lips,  and  the  muscles  moving  them ;  and  as  for 
the  teeth,  they  are  still  entirely  wanting."  '  The  unde- 
veloped condition  of  the  auditory  apparatus,  and  of  the 
brain,  have  also  to  be  considered  in  this  connection. 


LANGUAGE.  121 

On  the  other  hand,  it  needs  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  the 
relation  between  the  organs  of  speech  and  speech  itself  is 
a  reciprocal  one.  If  speech  depends  on  the  organs,  it  is 
also  true  that  the  organs  depend  on  speech,  and  are  not 
developed,  except  by  exercise.  As  one  learns  to  play  on 
the  harp  by  playing  on  the  harp,  so  the  child  learns  to 
speak  by  speaking.  The  exercise  of  the  vocal  organs  de- 
velops those  organs,  so  that  they  become  capable  of  higher 
exercise. 

The  lungs  first  appear,  early  in  the  embryonic  stage,  as  a 
single  median  diverticulum  from  the  ventral  wall  of  the 
oesophagus,  which  soon  becomes  dilated  towards  the  two 
sides  in  the  form  of  primitive  protrusions  or  tubercules, 
while  the  root,  communicating  with  the  oesophagus,  remains 
single.  The  foetal  lungs  contain  no  air,  and  lie,  packed  in 
a  comparatively  small  compass,  at  the  back  of  the  thorax. 
They  undergo  very  rapid  and  remarkable  changes  after 
birth,  in  consequence  of  the  commencement  of  respiration. 
They  expand  so  as  to  completely  cover  the  pleural  portions 
of  the  pericardium,  their  margins  become  more  obtuse, 
and  their  whole  form  less  compressed.  The  entrance,  of  the 
air  changes  their  texture  so  that  it  becomes  more  loose, 
light  and  spongy,  and  less  granular ;  while  the  great  quan- 
tity of  blood,  which,  from  this  time  on,  circulates  through 
them,  greatly  increases  their  weight,  and  changes  their 
color.  The  proportion  of  their  weight  to  that  of  the  body 
becomes  nearly  twice  as  great  as  before,  while,  at  the  same 
time,  their  specific  gravity,  after  the  beginning  of  respira- 
tion, becomes  very  much  less. 

The  trachea,  or  windpipe,  which  connects  the  lungs  with 
the  larynx,  is  in  the  embryo  almost  closed,  its  anterior  and 
posterior  walls  being  very  near  each  other.  The  small 
space  remaining  is  filled  with  mucus.  With  the  exercise 
of  respiration,  the  mucus  is  expelled,  and  the  tube  itself 


122  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF  CHILDHOOD. 

gradually  becomes  more  distended,  but  its  anterior  wall  does 
not  for  some  time  become  convex.  With  the  growth  of  the 
child,  the  cartilages  which  form  the  "ribs"  of  the  tra- 
chea, become  stronger  and  better  able  to  bear  their  part 
in  the  forcible  expiration  of  air  which  is  required  for 
speech. 

The  larynx,  which  is  the  organ  most  directly  concerned 
in  the  production  of  "voice  "  or  "tone,"  is  an  exceedingly 
complicated  mechanism,  consisting  of  a  framework  of  carti- 
lages comprising  no  less  than  nine  distinct  parts,  connected 
by  elastic  membranes  or  ligaments,  two  of  which,  from  their 
specially  prominent  position,  are  named  the  true  vocal  cords. 
In  speaking  and  singing,  these  cartilages  are  moved  relatively 
to  one  another  by  the  laryngeal  muscles.  The  larynx  is 
situated  at  the  upper  end  of  the  trachea,  the  mucus  lining 
of  the  two  organs  being  continuous.  At  the  time  of  birth, 
this  organ  is  very  small  and  narrow,  and  continues  com- 
paratively  insignificant  up  to  the  period  of  adolescence, 
when  rapid  and  remarkable  changes  take  place,  especially 
in  the  case  of  the  male,  where  it  becomes  much  more  promi- 
nent, and  the  pomum  adami  protrudes  so  to  be  perceptible 
at  the  throat. 

The  tongue  is  composed  very  largely  of  muscular  fibres, 
running  in  various  directions,  such  as  the  superior  and 
inferior  lingual  muscles,  which  move  the  organ  up  and 
down,  and  the  transverse  fibres,  by  which  it  is  moved  from 
side  to  side.  Besides  these,  we  have  the  various  glossal 
muscles,  which,  though  extrinsic  to  the  tongue  itself,  yet 
are  implicated  in  its  operations.  These  muscles  are  all 
more  or  less  flabby  in  the  foetus  and  the  new-born,  and 
become  strong  only  by  nutrition  and  exercise.  A  similar 
remark  applies  to  the  lips ;  while  the  teeth,  without  which 
the  dental  and  labio-dental  consonants  can  never  be  properly 
pronounced,  are  at  the  beginning  of   life    entirely  absent, 


LANGUAGE.  123 

though  the  first  steps  toward  their  formation  take  place  as 
early  as  the  seventh  week  of  the  period  of  gestation. 

The  hrain  of  the  foetus  is  comparatively  deficient  in  con- 
volutions, and  presents  a  smooth,  even  appearance.  The 
first  of  the  primary  fissures  to  appear  is  the  fissure  of 
Sylvius,  which  is  visible  during  the  third  month.  The 
other  primitive  sulci  also  begin  to  appear  about  this  time, 
and  by  the  end  of  the  fifth  month  are  well  established. 
The  secondary  sulci  make  their  appearance  from  the  fifth 
or  sixth  month  on.  The  first  of  these  to  be  seen  is  the 
fissure  of  Rolando.  "By  the  end  of  the  seventh  month, 
nearly  all  the  chief  features  of  the  cerebral  convolutions 
and  sulci  have  appeared.  The  last  fissures  to  appear  are 
the  inferior  occipito-temporal,  and  a  small  furrow  crossing 
the  end  of  the  calloso-marginal."  But  long  after  the 

extra-uterine  life  begins,  the  child-brain  is  still  deficient  in 
many  of  the  higher  processes,  the  association  fibres  being  the 
last  to  develop.  The  convolutions  are  for  a  long  time  com- 
paratively simple,  and  their  increasing  complexity  as  life  ad- 
vances stands  to  the  exercise  of  the  various  faculties,  partly 
in  the  relation  of  antecedent,  and  partly  in  that  of  consequent. 

Speech,  then,  in  the  little  child  is  a  potentiality,  though 
not  an  actuality.  He  is,  as  it  were,  m  possession  of  the 
machine,  but  the  belts  have  not  yet  been  adjusted  to  the  pul- 
leys, nor  has  he  yet  learned  to  handle  the  instrument.  The 
inability  to  speak  is  not,  therefore,  an  abnormal  state  at 
the  beginning  of  life,  any  more  than  the  inability  to  write, 
or  swim,  or  play  the  piano.  It  is  merely  an  imperfect 

state.  But  the  inability  to  learn  to  speak  is  abnormal,  and 
its  cause  must  be  sought,  not  in  immaturity,  but  in  abnor- 
mality of  the  physiological  or  psychological  structures  and 
processes  involved.  The  one  is  an  unnatural  condition, 
into  which  the  child  has  fallen ;  the  other  a  natural  condi- 
tion, out  of  which  he  will  gradually  rise. 


124  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

III.   The  Phonetic  and  Psychic  Development. 

We  shall  here,  first  of  all,  give  a  sort  of  outline  history 
of  the  speech-progress  of  the  average  child  during  the  first 
two  years,  generalizing  from  a  large  number  of  actual  obser- 
vations (made  by  different  persons  on  different  children) 
and  proceeding  by  periods  of  six  months  each;  then  we 
shall  give  summarized  statements  of  a  number  of  child- 
vocabularies  that  have  been  carefully  compiled  at  different 
ages ;  and  "finally,  we  shall  examine  what  general  conclu- 
sions may  be  drawn  from  the  material  at  hand,  and  set 
down  as  empirical  laws,  awaiting  further  substantiation. 
I  say  "empirical  laws,"  because  children  differ  so  much 
from  each  other,  and  reliable  observations  are  so  compara- 
tively scanty,  that,  for  the  present,  general  statements  must 
be  held  in  abeyance,  or  made  only  tentatively. 

First  Six  Months.  —  "  In  Thuringia,"  says  Sigismund, 
"  they  call  the  first  three  months  '  das  dumme  Vierteljahr,' " 
and  during  the  second  three  months,  according  to  Schultze, 
no  advance  is  made  on  the  first.  It  might  seem,  then,  that 
in  this  first  half-year  there  is  nothing  worthy  of  our  attention 
in  the  matter  of  language.  This,  however,  is  very  far  from 
being  the  case,  for  in  this  period  a  most  important  appren- 
ticeship is  going  on.  The  little  child,  even  in  the  cradle, 
and  before  he  is  able  to  raise  himself  to  a  sitting  post- 
ure, is  receiving  impressions  every  waking  moment  from  the 
environment ;  is  hearing  the  words,  seeing  the  gestures,  and 
noting  —  in  a  manner  perhaps  not  purely  involuntary  — 
the  intonations  of  those  around  him ;  and  out  of  this  mate- 
rial he  afterwards  builds  up  his  own  vocabulary.  Not 
only  so,  but  during  this  period,  that  peculiarly  charming 
infantile  babble  (which  Ploss  calls  "das  Lallen")  begins, 
which,  though  only  an  "awkward  twittering,"        yet  con- 


LANGUAGE.  125 

tains  in  rudimentary  form  nearly  all  the  sounds  which 
afterwards,  by  combination,  yield  the  potent  instrument  of 
speech.  A  wonderful  variety  of  sounds,  some  of  which 
afterwards  give  the  child  difficulty  when  he  tries  to  produce 
them,  are  now  produced  automatically,  by  a  purely  impul- 
sive exercise  of  the  vocal  muscles ;  in  the  same  way  as  the 
child  at  this  age  performs  automatically  many  eye-move- 
ments, which  afterwards  become  difficult,  or  even  impossi- 
ble. M.  Taine  thinks  that  "  all  shades  of  emotion,  wonder, 
joy,  willfulness  and  sadness ''  are  at  this  time  expressed 
by  differences  of  tone,  equaling  or  even  surpassing  the 
adult. 

The  child's  first  act  is  to  cry.^  This  cry  has  been  vari- 
ously interpreted.  Semmig  calls  it  "  the  triumphant  song 
of  everlasting  life,"  and  describes  it  as  "  heavenly  music  " 
(himmlische  Musik)  ;  Kant  said  it  was  a  cry  of  wrath,  and 
others  have  spoken  of  it  as  a  sorrowful  wail  on  entering 
this  world  of  sin ;  or  as  the  foreboding  of  the  pains  and 
sorrows  of  life.  It  seems  more  scientific,  though  less 
poetic,  to  accept  the  explanation  of  the  "unembarrassed 
naturalist,"  who  sees  in  it  nothing  more  nor  less  than  the 
expression  of  the  painfulness  of  the  first  breathing  —  the 
rush  of  cold  air  upon  the  lungs. 

A  more  important  point  is  the  relation  of  this  first  vocal 
•utterance  to  the  speech  that  is  to  follow.  The  cry  at  first 
is  merely  an  automatic  or  reflex  "  squall,"  without  expres- 
sive modulation  or  distinctive  timbre ;  the  same  cry  serves 
to  express  all  sorts  of  feelings.  But  very  soon  it  becomes 
differentiated  and  assumes  various  shadings  to  express 
various  mental  states.     This  differentiation  begins  at  differ- 


1  "Sobald  das  Kind  zur  Welt  geboren  ist,  fftngt  es  an  gellend  zu 
schreien."  "The  child  is  bom  into  the  world!     He  enters  it 

struggling ;  a  scream  is  his  first  utterance." 


126  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF  CHILDHOOD. 

ent  times  in  different  children.  A  girl  only  fifteen  days 
old  expressed  her  desire  to  be  fed  by  a  particular  sort  of 
cry.  In  another  case,  the  cry  had  ceased  to  be  a  mere 

squall  by  the  end  of  the  first  month.  In  another,  the  feel- 
ings of  hunger,  cold,  pain,  joy  and  desire  were  expressed  by 
different  sounds  before  the  end  of  the  fifth  week.  Others 
report  the  transition  from  the  "cry"  to  the  "voice," 
involving  cooperation  of  the  mouth  and  tongue,  at  different 
times,  but  all  within  the  first  three  months. 

These  cries  are  variously  described.  According  to  one, 
"  the  cry  of  pain  is  generally  longer  continued  than  the  cry 
of  fear."  Another  speaks  of  the  cry  of  fear  as  "  short 

and  explosive,"  while  hunger  is  expressed  by  a  long  drawn 
out   wail.  Another    child    at    tAvo  months   expressed 

pleasure  and  pain  by  different  forms  of  the  vowel  a.  Sigis- 
mund's  boy,  in  his  sixth  month,  expressed  pleasure  by  a  pe- 
culiar crowing  shout,  accompanied  by  kicking  and  prancing. 

The  next  step  is  taken  when  these  cries  and  babblings 
assume  an  articulate  character.  The  alphabetic  sounds 
begin  to  be  heard.  Of  these,  the  vowels  usually  precede 
the  consonants ;  and  of  the  vowels,  a  with  its  various  shad- 
ings is  generally  the  first  to  appear.'     In  one  case  the  fol- 

*  It  is  necessary  at  this  point  to  adopt  a  system  of  diacritical  marks, 
as  in  all  that  follows  the  child's  pronunciation  is  of  great  importance. 
We  shall,  therefore,  adopt  the  following  system,  and  shall  take  the 
liberty  of  changing,  wherever  necessary,  the  spelling  of  the  recorded 
observations,  for  the  sake  of  uniformity  : 

a  as  in  calm.  e  or  ee  as  in  eat,  feet,  etc.  oo  as  in  food. 

a  as  in  fat.  i  as  in  pit,  do  as  in  foot. 

a,  as  in  fate.  i  as  in  ice.  u  as  in  up. 

a  as  in  awl.  o  as  in  pot.  u  as  in  use. 

a  (German  a  umlaut),  o  as  in  old.  u  (German  u  umlaut), 

e  as  in  pet.  o  (German  o  umlaut). 

Some  changes  will  also  be  made  in  the  use  of  consonants.    For 


'/ 


LANGUAGE.  127 

lowing  series  was  developed:  d-a-u.  In  another,  the 

sound  of  a-a,  as  an  expression  of  joy,  was  heard  in  the 
tenth  week.  According  to  Lobische,  the  vowels  devel- 

oped in  this  order :  a-e-o-u-i.  One  child  began  with  a,  and 
then  proceeded  to  ai-d-aii-d,  while  the  pure  sound  of  o  was 
late  in  appearing.  In  another  case  all  the  vowels  were 
heard  in  the  first  five  months,  a  being  the  most  frequently 
employed ;  and  in  another,  the  primitive  a  (of  which  the 
child's  first  cries  largely  consisted)  became  differentiated 
into  the  various  vowel-sounds  during  the  first  month. 
Preyer  reports  the  use  of  the  vowel-sounds  in  the  following 
order:  ud-ao-ai-uao-d-o-a-o-u-e-d-i-u ;  and  Sigismund  in  the 
following :  a-d-u-ei-o-i-d-il-du-aic. 

Long  before  the  sixth  month,  the  primitive  vowels  are 
combined  with  one  another  (as  we  see)  and  with  consonants, 
to  produce  the  first  syllabic  utterances.  These  first  sylla-  <^/ 
bles  are,  for  the  most  part,  mechanical.  In  a  great  many 
of  the  cases  under  consideration,  the  first  consonants  to 
make  their  appearance  are  the  labials,  b-p-m,  and  these  are 
almost  always  initial  at  first,  and  not  final.  The  easy  con- 
sonant w,  combined  in  this  way  with  the  easy  vowel  a, 
yields  the  familiar  combination  ma,  which,  by  spontaneous 
reduplication,  becomes  mama.  In  a  similar  manner,  papa, 
baba  (afterwards  baby)  and  the  like,  are  constructed.  The 
labials  are  not  always,  however,  the  first  consonantal  sounds 
uttered.  Sometimes  the  gutterals  (g  or  k)  precede  them; 
and  the  two  consonants  which  are  usually  the  last  to  appear 
(viz.,  r  and  I)  are  used  by  some  children  quite  early.  In 
the  case  of  the  boy  A.,  the  first  sounds  were  gutteral,  gg, 


example,  such  words  as  corner,  chortts,  coffee,  etc.,  will  be  spelled 
with  a  k;  words  like  cigar,  centre,  cellar,  etc.,  with  an  s;  and  in  such 
words  as  lorite  the  silent  w  will  be  omitted.  Other  changes  will  be 
indicated  as  they,  are  made. 


128  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

though  the  earliest  combination  was  mam-mam,  used  in  cry- 
ing. At  five  months  "  he  dropped  the  throat-sounds  almost 
entirely,  and  began  the  shrill  enunciation  of  vowels ; "  and 
at  six  months  he  lowered  his  voice  and  began  to  use  lip- 
sounds,  simultaneously  with  the  cutting  of  his  first  teeth. 
In  another  case,  m  appeared  as  the  first  consonant  in  the 
second  month  and  was  followed  by  b-d-n-r,  occasionally  g  and 
h,  and  very  rarely  k ;  the  first  syllables  were  pa-ma-ta-na. 
Lobische  observed  the  consonants  in  this  order :  m-{io)-b-p-d-t- 
Irn-s-r;  Sigismundin  this:  b-m-n-d-s-g-w-f-cli-Tc-l-r-sch ;  and  Dr. 
Brown  in  this  :  b-p-f-r-mg-k-h-l-d-l-n  ^"\  In  some  cases  nearly 
all  syllables  have  been  correctly  pronounced  during  the  first 
half-year ;  while  in  others  progress  is  much  slower,  very  few 
syllables  being  certainly  mastered  before  the  ninth  month. 

We  may  sometimes  observe  here  also  the  beginnings  of 
vocal  imitation.  The  boy  A.  was  observed  to  "watch 
attentively  the  lip-movements  of  his  attendants  ;  "  and  other 
observers  have  remarked,  from  about  the  fourth  month,  "a 
curious  mimicry  of  conversation,  imitating  especially  the 
cadences,  so  that  persons  in  the  adjoining  room  would  think 
conversation  Avas  going  on."  The  same  thing  was  ob- 

served in  A.  a  little  later. 

Second  Six  Months.  —  Most  children  make  a  very 
marked  advance  during  this  period  in  the  imitation  of 
sounds,  in  the  intentional  use  of  sounds  with  a  meaning, 
and  in  the  comprehension  of  the  meanings  of  words  and 
gestures.  The  actual  vocabulary  of  most  children  at  this 
age  is,  however,  exceedingly  small.  Many  children,  a  year 
old,  cannot  speak  a  single  word,  while  the  average  vocabu' 
lary  does  not  probably  exceed  half  a  dozen  words. 

A  new  advance  accompanies  the  rise  of  active  hearing, 
and  the  increasing  power  of  attention  in  the  third  three 
months.     The  child  begins  to  keep  a  sort  of  time  to  music, 


LANGUAGE.  129 

in  which  he  shows  pleasure,  and  this  strong  excitement 
stimulates  the  production  of  new  sounds.  He  delights  in 
being  carried  about  with  a  galloping  rhythmic  motion,  and 
will  smack  his  lips  and  make  other  sounds  in  imitation  of 
chirping  to  a  horse.  He  pats   his  hands  together  in 

imitation  of  the  accompanying  motions  in  a  nursery  rhyme, 
and  sometimes  makes  an  attempt  to  say  the  words  also. 
He  shows  a  fondness  for  ringing  the  changes  on  certain 
syllables  wliich  he  has  learned,  varying  and  reduplicating : 
e.g.,  mama,  baba,  gaga,  nana,  etc.,  and  other  less  intelligible 
combinations. 

He  understands  many  words  which  he  cannot  pronounce, 
and  he  pronounces  some  in  a  mechanical  way  without  un- 
derstanding. He  knows  each  member  of  the  household  by 
name,  and  will  reach  a  biscuit  to  the  person  named  to  him. 
He  knows  the  principal  parts  of  his  own  body,  and  will 
point    to    them   when    asked.  The   words  papa  and 

mama,  whose  surprising  universality  may  be  partly  ac- 
counted for  by  the  physiological  law  of  ease  (the  sound 
most  easily  produced  and,  therefore,  earliest  used,  being 
naturally  associated  with  those  persons  whose  presence 
arouses  the  earliest  and  most  vivid  emotions  and  ideas),  are 
by  many  children  at  this  time  intelligently  used,  though 
some  are  later  in  this. 

Imitation  usually  makes  rapid  strides  in  this  period. 
In  one  case  gestures  were  imitated  at  eight  months,  and 
words  at  nine.  If  some  one  is  being  called,  the  child  also 
calls  loudly.  In  another  case,  towards  the  end  of  the  child's 
first  year,  he  began  to  imitate  the  sounds  made  by  animals 
and  inanimate  objects.  Sigismund  observed  the  instinct 

of  imitation  showing  itself  in  the'  third  q\iarter  of  the  first 
year ;  the  reduplication  of  syllables  composed  of  a  labial  or 
dental  consonant  and  the  vowel  a ;  and  the  more  frequent 
occurrence   of    syllables  in  which   the  vowel    is    initiaL 


130  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF   CHILDHOOD. 

Champneys'  child  distinctly  imitated  the  intonation  of  the 
voice  when  any  word  or  sentence  was  repeated  to  him 
several  times.  This  has  been  observed  also  in  other 
cases. 

Children  who  are  able  to  use  a  few  words  at  this  age, 
show  by  their  use  of  them  how  inadequately  defined  is 
their  meaning.  A  little  girl,  who  had  learned  to  say  d  gd 
(all  gone)  and  gd  gd  (gegangen),  applied  the  latter  term  to 
herself  when  falling  down.  Humphreys  says  the  child 

he  observed  was  able,  at  this  time,  to  name  many  things 
correctly,  and  to  pronounce  all  initial  consonants  distinctly, 
except  th,  t,  d,  v,  and  I.  Some  final  consonants  were  indis- 
tinct. Another  child,  at  eleven  months,  knew  what  guten 
tag  meant,  and  responded  with  lata;  he  also  answered  adieu 
with  adaa.  In  this  case,  the  first  association  of  a  sound 
with  a  concept  was  ee,  which  meant  wet.  A  boy  of  ten 

months  used  intelligently  the  words  mama,  Aggie  (Maggie, 
this  afterwards  became  Waggie)  and  addie  (auntie).  At 
eleven  months,  Waggie  was  shortened  to  Wag,  and  addie  to 
att.  Another   at  seven  months  used  to  wave  his  hand 

and  say  tata  at  parting ;  and  one  day  he  did  this  when  a 
closet  door  was  opened  and  shut  again.  Taine's  little 

girl  at  twelve  months,  on  learning  the  word  beb6,  as  con- 
nected with  the  picture  of  the  infant  Jesus,  afterwards 
extended  it,  curiously  enough,  not  to  all  babies,  but  to  all 
pictures.  Occasionally  a  word  is  invented,  such  as  the  word 
mu7n,  reported  by  Mr.  Darwin,  which  the  child  used  with 
an  interrogatory  sound  when  asking  for  food,  but  also  "  as  a 
substantive  of  wide  signification."  I  observed  a  similar 
general  use  of  da,  in  the  case  of  F.  In  another  case,  the 
word  60  was  used  to  signify  anything  that  pleased  the  child. 
The  words  mama,  papa  and  babe,  which  had  been  used  for 
some  time  mechanically,  were  dropped  about  the  middle  of 
this  period,  to  be  resumed  five  months  later,  "  when  they 


LANGUAGE.  131 

were  applied  to  their  proper  objects."  Sully  observed 

in  the  beginning  of  this  period  (which  he  calls  the  la  la 
period)  the  rise  of  spontaneous  articulation.  Combinations 
of  syllables  were  suddenly  hit  upon,  and  repeated  without 
any  meaning,  except  as  indications  of  baby  feeling.  Long 
a  indicated  surprise,  and  "  a  kind  of  o,  formed  by  sucking 
in  the  breath,  indicated  pleasure  at  some  new  object."  In 
one  case,  a  little  sentence  —  which  really  consisted  of  two 
words  —  was  uttered  by  a  child  at  the  close  of  this  period. 

He  said:  "Papa mama,"  which  meant:  ''Papa,  take 

me  to  mama." 

The  wide  differences  among  children  make  it  unsafe  to 
venture  any  generalizations,  except  one,  viz.,  this  second 
half-year  seems  to  be  j)(^i^  excellence  the  period  of  the  rise 
of  imitation.  Some  children,  however,  are  as  far  advanced 
at  the  beginning  of  this  period  as  others  are  at  its  end. 
Perhaps  it  ought  also  to  be  remarked  that  the  child  who 
shows  a  great  precocity  in  imitation,  or  in  learning  to 
speak,  will  not  necessai'ily,  on  that  account,  turn  out  a 
more  intelligent  child.  Imitation  does  not  require  a  very 
high  degree  of  mental  acuteness,  and  the  child  who  has 
been  slow  in  this  may  in  the  end  surpass  his  more  preco- 
cious companion. 

Third  Six  Months.  —  "While  the  child  is  learning  to 
walk,  there  is  very  often  a  standstill,  or  even  a  retrograde 
movement  in  the  matter  of  speech.  After  walking  is  mas- 
tered, the  acquisition  of  language  goes  forward  again  with 
greater  facility  than  ever. 

During  this  third  period,  marked  progress  is  usually 
made  in  the  understanding  of  words,  and  in  their  intelli- 
gent application,  though  the  vocabulary  is  still  very  limited, 
and  the  pronunciation  imperfect.  Difficult  sounds  are 
omitted,  or  replaced  by  easier  ones.     Sometimes  the  change 


132  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

in  one  consonant  has  an  influence  on  another  -which  pre- 
cedes or  follows  it.  In  longer  words  and  combinations, 
only  the  prominent  part  —  the  accented  syllable,  or  the 
final  sound  —  is  reproduced.  A  final  ie  is  often  added  to 
words.  The  child  says  dinnie  for  dinner,  ninnie  for  drink, 
and  beddy  for  bread.  Other  imperfect  pronunciations  are : 
apy  tee  (apple  tree),  piccy  book  (picture  book),  gamy  or 
nannie  (grandma) ,  pee  (please),  pepe  (pencil) ,  mo-a  (more), 
ho  ox  Jid  (horse),  Balbert  (Gilbert),  Tot  (Topf),  Ka-ka  (Car- 
rie), and  Kakie  (Katy). 

Most  children  at  this  age  understand  a  great  deal  of 
what  is  said  to  them.  Such  phrases  as  "  bring  the  ball ; " 
''  come  on  papa's  knee ; "  "  go  down ; "  '*  come  here ; "  "  give 
me  a  kiss,"  are  perfectly  understood  and  obeyed.  Parts  of 
the  child's  body,  as  eyes,  nose,  ear,  other  ear,  hand,  etc.,  other 
person's  eyes,  ears,  etc.,  are  pointed  to  when  named.  Arti- 
cles are  fetched,  carried  and  put  where  one  commands. 

Some  children  begin,  towards  the  end  of  this  period,  to 
express  themselves  in  short  sentences,  which  are  usually 
elliptical,  or,  as  Romanes  says,  "  sentence-words,"  only  the 
most  prominent  word  or  words  in  the  sentence  being  pro- 
nounced. E.g.,  ta  (thank  you) ,  nee  (take  me  on  your  knee) ; 
det  off;  detup;  where  cows  George?  (where  are  Uncle  George's 
cows  9) ;  mo-a,  mama  (give  me  more,  mama);  dao  (take 

me  down  from  my  chair).  Many  combinations  of  words 

are  made,  which  fall  short  of  the  dignity  of  sentences. 
E.g.,  mama  dess,  ding-a-ling,  etc.  A  boy  of  eighteen  months 
''knows  the  last  words  of  many  of  Mother  Goose  melodies, 
as  7noon  0;  place  0;  bare,  bare,  bare;  putting  them  in  at 
the  right  time,  enthusiastically." 

Some  words  are  invented  by  the  child.  E.g.,  the  word 
tem,  which  Taine's  little  girl  spontaneously  used  as  a  sort 
of  general  demonstrative,  "  a  sympathetic  articulation,  that 
aha  herself  has  found  in  harmony  with  all  fixed  and  distinct 


LANGUAGE.  133 

intention,  and  which  consequently  is  associated  with  her 
principal  fixed  and  distinct  intentions,  which  at  present  are 
desires  to  take,  to  have,  to  make  others  take,  to  look,  to 
make  others  look."  The  same  child  invented  the  word  ham, 
to  signify  "  something  to  eat,"  just  as  Darwin's  boy  used 
mum  for  the  same  purpose. 

The  love  of  reduplication  shows  itself  very  distinctly  now, 
as  indeed  it  has  almost  from  the  beginning ;  no  doubt  for 
the  physiological  reason  that  it  is  easier  for  the  vocal  organs 
to  execute  a  movement  over  again,  to  which  they  are  ad- 
justed, and  which  they  have  performed  once,  than  to  adjust 
themselves  to  a  new  movement.  Very  probably  the  love  of 
repetition  and  "jingle"  which  is  so  noticeable  in  children 
(and  which,  as  Sigismund  says,  lies  at  the  foundation  of 
rhyme),  also  enters  as  a  factor  here.  Numerous  examples 
of  the  onomatopoetic  naming  of  animals  and  things  may 
also  be  observed  at  this  time,  though  many  of  these  are,  no 
doubt,  imitated  from  grown-up  people.  One  or  both  of 
these  tendencies  may  be  observed  in  such  expressions  as 
the  following:  dada,  mama,  papa,  loaiva  (ivater),  xoah  toah 
or  oua  oica  or  boto  tvow  (dog),  es  es  (yes),  ni  ni  {nice),  ko  ko 
(chicken),  puff  {wind),  quack  quack  {duck),  golloh  or  lululu 
{all  rolling  objects),  bopoo  {bottle),  too  too  {cars),  tuppa  tuppa 
tee  {potato),  etc.  The  child  imitates  (often  spontaneously) 
the  sounds  made  by  the  dog,  cat,  sheep,  ticking  of  clock, 
etc.,  while  many  sounds  are  reduplicated.  The  opposite 
process,  a  spontaneous  curtailing  of  certain  words,  may  be 
sometimes  noticed.  In  one  case  a  boy  of  fifteen  months 
contracted  papa,  mama  and  addie  into  pa,  ma  and  att  respec- 
tively, having  never  heard  any  of  these  latter  words. 

Imitation  is  now  very  strong.  The  child  attempts  to  re- 
peat everything  he  hears ;  but  some  sounds  give  him  diffi- 
culty, and  the  shifts  to  which  he  resorts  in  such  cases  are  of 
very  great  interest.     The  boy  R.  used  to  say  nana  for  thank 


134  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHTLDHOOD. 

you,  and  dit  taut  for  get  cavght  (in  play)  ;  but  the  phrase 
excuse  me  was  too  much  for  him ;  he  therefore  used  oho  in 
its  place,  with  a  rising  inflection  on  the  second  syllable. 
Singing  is  often  imitated  better  than  speech.  A  boy  of 
fourteen  months  "gave  back  a  little  song,  in  the  right 
key ;  "  and  another,  in  the  sixteenth  month,  knew  some 
simple  little  hymns. 

But  perhaps  the  most  interesting  thing  of  all  at  this  time 
is  the  gradual  *'  clearing  "  of  the  childish  concepts,  as  indi- 
cated by  the  steady  circumscription  of  the  application  of 
names.  Even  yet,  however,  names  are  applied  much  too 
widely ;  much  more  experience  is  necessary  before  they  ac- 
quire, in  the  young  mind,  a  clear  and  definite  connotation. 
(Even  in  mature  life,  most  of  our  concepts  are  still  very 
hazy  and  ill-defined ;  and  it  might  be  allowable  to  describe 
the  whole  process  of  intellectual  education  as  a  process  of 
clarification  of  the  concept.)  It  is  interesting,  also,  to  note 
how  the  principle  of  association  enters  as  a  factor  in  the 
determination  of  the  application  of  the  name.  When  a 
child  calls  the  moon  a  lamp,  or  applies  his  word  bd  (ball)  to 
oranges,  bubbles,  and  other  round  objects  ;  calls  everything 
boio  ivow  which  bears  any  sort  of  resemblance  to  a  dog  (in- 
cluding the  bronze  dogs  on  the  staircase,  and  the  goat  in  the 
yard)  ;  applies  his  words  papa  and  mama  to  all  men  and  all 
women  respectively ;  makes  his  word  cutie  do  duty,  not  only 
for  knife,  but  also  for  scissors,  shears^  sickle,  etc.;  says 
ba  (bath)  on  seeing  a  crust  dipped  in  tea;  applies  ati 
(assis)  to  chair,  footstool,  bench,  sitting  down,  sit  down,  etc. ; 
peudu  {j)erdu)  or  atta  {gone  or  lost)  to  all  sorts  of  dis- 
appearances;—  it  is  evident  that  one  great  striking  resem- 
blance has  overshadowed  all  differences  in  the  objects. 
Another  child,  who  had  learned  the  word  ot  as  a  name  for 
objects  that  were  too  warm,  extended  it  to  include,  also, 
objects  that  were  too  cold  (association  by  contrast).     Later, 


LANGUAGE.  136 

on  looking  at  a  picture,  he  pointed  to  the  representation  of 
clouds  and  said  6t.  The  clouds  reminded  him,  no  doubt,  of 
the  steam  from  the  tea-kettle.  This  aptitude  for  seiz- 

ing analogies,  which  Taine  believes  to  be  the  source  of  gen- 
eral ideas  and  of  language,  has  numerous  illustrations,  not 
only  in  the  language  of  the  child  just  learning  to  speak,  but 
also  in  the  use  of  words  by  uncivilized  or  semi-civilized 
peoples.^ 

Fourth  Six  Months.  — During  the  latter  half  of  the 
second  year  linguistic  progress  is  usually  so  rapid  as  to  render 
a  detailed  account  impossible.  We  can  only  call  attention, 
with  examples,  to  some  of  the  most  striking  features. 

"By  the  end  of  the  second  year,"  says  Schultze,  "the 
normal  child  can  make  himself  understood  in  a  short  sen- 
tence." His  own  child  was  able,  at  nineteen  months,  to  use 
sentences  containing  subject,  predicate  and  object.  In  an- 
other case,  quite  a  complicated  sentence  (but  very  elliptical, 
only  the  nouns  being  uttered),  was  heard  in  the  twentieth 
month.  In  the  case  of  A.,  a  genuine  sorrow  was  the  occar 
sion  of  his  first  sentence.  His  father,  of  whom  he  was  very 
fond,  had  been  playing  with  him  for  some  time,  and  finally, 
being  called  away,  put  him  down  and  went  out,  closing  the 
door  behind  him.  The  child  gazed  for  a  moment  at  the 
closed  door,  and  then,  throwing  himself  on  the  floor,  cried 
out,  /  tvciyit  my  papa.  Before  this  he  used  to  express  himself 
chiefly  in  elliptical  sentences  and  sentence-words.  "When 
slightly  over  two  years  of  age,  he  used  to  weave  little  stories 
of  his  own  ;  e.g.,  mama  fd  wite  downy  toppy  liouf.  One  day, 
while  the  dinner  was  waiting  for  his  father,  who  was  ex- 
pected home  on  the  train,  the  child  said :  Toot-toot  corny 
wite  up  tair,  inny  doh,  tippy  tapool;  toot-toot  make  big  noise. 

1  See  Romanes'  "  Mental  Evolution  in  Man,"  Chap.  VIII. 


136  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

Another  of  his  sentences  was  :  Take  a  badie  bidy  to ;  badie 
tiehd,feepy.  The  boy  C.  uttered  his  first  sentence  in  the 
twenty-first  month:  Pees  mama.  Two  months  earlier  he 
had  used  sentence-words  ;  e.g.,  paj)a  cacker  {papa  has  fire- 
crackers). In  the  twenty-fourth  month  he  told  quite  an  ex- 
tensive story,  in  which  the  verbs  were  not  expressed.  Even 
corhpound  sentences,  and  sentences  containing  subordinate 
clauses,  are  often  mastered  before  the  close  of  this  period. 
Sometimes  verbal  inflections  appear ;  e.g.,  naughty  baby  kllde 
(cried).  Another  day  the  same  child  said  corned  for  came, 

thus  unconsciously  rebuking  the  inconsistent  English  lan- 
guage. Interrogative  sentences  appeared  in  another  case ; 
e.g.,  whereas  pussy  ?  and  negation  was  expressed  by  an  af- 
firmative sentence,  with  an  emphatic  no  tacked  on  at  the 
end,  exactly  as  the  deaf-mutes  do.  Many  of  these  primitive 
sentences  are  in  the  imperative  mood,  and  many  are  still 
"sentence-words."  Most  children  talk  a  great  deal,  and 
gesticulate  profusely,  at  this  time.  Their  expressions  are 
concrete,  and  abstract  words  are  avoided  as  far  as  possible. 
A  little  boy,  on  seeing  the  picture  of  a  half-grown  lad,  spoke 
of  it  as  a  little  baby  man.  Anything  that  has  rhyme  or 

rhythm  is  most  easily  picked  up.  A  little  nephew  of  my 
own  was  able,  at  this  age,  to  sing  a  large  number  of  little 
songs  and  hymns,  giving  the  melody  quite  correctly.  An- 
other boy,  at  twenty-one  months,  on  hearing  the  milkman's 
bell  in  the  morning,  used  to  say :  Mik  man  mik  cow,  crump 
horn,  toss  dog,  kiss  maid  all  florn ;  or  peeping  through  the 
fence  at  the  cows,  would  sing :  Moo  cow,  moo  cow,  how-de- 
do  cow. 

The  child's  progress  is  marked  here  by  his  gradual  mas- 
tery of  the  personal  and  possessive  pronouns.  These  are 
peculiarly  difficult  for  the  average  child,  and,  according  to 
Egger,  are  not  usually  attained  until  near  the  close  of  the 
second  year ;  according  to  others,  much  later  still  (thirtieth 


LANGUAGE.  137 

month,  according  to  Lindner).  Previous  to  mastering  the 
/,  the  child  calls  himself  by  his  proper  name,  or  by  the 
name  haby,  as  he  may  have  been  taught.  When  I  first  ap- 
pears, it  is  frequently  employed, — quite  consistently  from 
the  child's  point  of  view, — not  in  the  first  person,  but  in 
the  second ;  i.e.,  he  calls  others  /  and  himself  you.  One 
child  used  the  word  /  correctly  as  early  as  the  nineteenth 
month,  but  often  exchanged  it  for  her  proper  name. 
Another,  in  the  twentieth  month,  still  called  himself  by 
his  proper  name,  but,  a  month  later,  said  me  for  the  first 
time.  Another  spoke  of  me  as  a  personality  in  her  twenty- 
second  month.  Another,  at  two  years,  often  used  the 
word  my,  meaning  your ;  e.g..  Let  me  get  up  on  my  lajy. 
Another,  at  the  same  age,  still  speaks  of  himself  as  baby  in 
ordinary  converse,  but  in  great  desire  says,  /  want  it,  and  in 
great  fear  says,  I  afraid. 

In  some  cases,  almost  all  the  sounds  are  mastered  by  the 
end  of  the  second  year,  but  from  the  observations  at  hand, 
this  may  be  considered  the  exception.  Most  children  still 
have  difficulty  with  certain  sounds.  Some  of  these  diffi- 
culties are  seen  in  the  following:  apoo  {apple),  zhatis  (there 
it  is),  es  (yes),  yleg  (egg;  note  difficulty  with  initial  vowel), 
oke7i  (open),  task  (mustache),  sh'ad  (thread),  dam  (gu7n), 
fdl  (shawl),  tippervator  (elevator),  nobella  (umbrella),  banni- 
cars  (banisters),  aw  yi  (all  right),  setto  (cellar),  pato  (2'>otato), 
it  da  (sit  there).  One  observer  reports  a  special  difficulty 
with  s,  z,  d,  g,  k,  I,  n,  g,  r  and  t.  Another  says  that  at 
nineteen  months,  the  sounds  s,  sh,  ch  and  j  were  generally 
indistinct ;  while  w,  v  and  /  were  formed,  but  not  well  de- 
veloped. On  the  other  hand  nasal  g  appeared,  o  was  mas- 
tered, I,  p  and  t  asjinal  consonants  began  to  be  used,  and  k 
became  a  favorite  sound,  used  in  many  words.  Sibilants 
were  more  at  command  when  final  than  when  initial,  while 
short  d  was  just  beginning  to  be  formed.     In  the  twenty- 


138  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF  CHILDHOOD. 

second  month  the  sounds  of  cli,  j  and  th  were  still  imperfect, 
the  hard  sound  of  th  being  replaced  by  s  and  the  soft  sound 
by  2.  A  month  later,  r  was  still  generally  replaced  by  l\ 
when  s  came  before  another  consonant,  one  or  the  other 
was  dropped,  and  k  was  sometimes  confused  with  p  or  t. 
In  another  case,  the  double  consonant  sp  made  its  first  ap- 
pearance at  the  end  of  the  second  year. 

There  are  still  many  examples  of  the  inadequate  limi- 
tation of  the  concept.  In  one  case  the  word  poor,  which 
was  learned  as  an  expression  of  pity,  was  applied  on  occa- 
sion of  any  sort  of  loss  or  damage  whatsoever,  and  was  even 
used  in  speaking  of  a  crooked  pin.  Dam  {gum),  with  which 
toys  were  mended,  became  a  universal  remedy  for  all  things 
broken  or  disabled  ;  and  afterwards,  when  the  child  ac- 
quired the  word  sh'acl  (thread),  broken  things  were  divided 
into  two  classes,  viz.,  those  that  were  to  be  mended  with 
dam,  and  those  that  were  to  be  mended  with  sh''ad. 
Behivys,  in  another  case,  was  at  first  the  name  for  all  small 
fruits,  but  afterwards  became  restricted,  yielding  a  portion 
of  its  territory  to  gape  (grape).  Another  little  boy  ex- 

tended his  word  gee-gee  (horse)  to  a  drawing  of  an  ostrich, 
and  a  bronze  figure  of  a  stork ;  and  his  word  apoo  (apple) 
to  a  patch  of  reddish-brown  color  on  the  mantelpiece. 
The  boy  C.  applied  the  word  hoke  (broke)  to  a  torn  pocket- 
handkerchief ;  and  R.  extended  his  word  do  (door)  to 
everything  that  stopped  up  an  opening  or  prevented  an 
exit,  including  the  cork  of  a  bottle,  and  the  little  table  that 
fastened  him  in  his  high  chair. 

Healthy  children  of  tAvo  years  of  age  will  usually  attempt 
all  sorts  of  sounds  in  imitation  of  others,  and  will  practice 
on  new  and  difficult  combinations  with  great  perseverance, 
sometimes  carrying  the  word  through  several  stages  of 
transition,  until  it  finally  assumes  the  perfect  form.  The 
boy  A.  first  heard  the  word  pussy  when  seventeen  months 


LANGUAGE.  139 

old;  he  at  once  undertook  to  say  it,  but  called  it  at  first 
pooheh,  then  poqfie,  then  poopoohie,  then  jyoofee,  until  finally, 
after  much  persevering  practice,  he  was  able  to  ssiy  pussy, 
when  he  seemed  to  be  satisfied,  and  discontinued  its  use, 
except  when  pussy  was  in  sight.  Schultze  gives,  among 
others,  the  following  examples  :  The  German  word  wasser 
passed  through  these  stages,  —  wawaff — fafaff —  waff  waff 
—  wasse  —  wasser;  the  word  grosmama  was  first  omama, 
and  then  dosmama,  before  assuming  its  final  form.  The 
strength  of  the  reduplicating  tendency,  and  the  influence  of 
the  initial  consonant  on  the  remainder  of  the  word,  is  seen 
in  the  following  imitations:  waioa  {Mary),  dadu  (Julia), 
ill  ih  (little),  ha  ha  (hlanket),  fafa  (faster),  mama  (master), 
papa  (pasture),  nana  (naughty)} 

'  I  cannot  forbear  quoting  the  following  from  Sigismund  in  this  con- 
nection. A  child  of  twenty -one  months  attempted  to  repeat,  line  by 
line,  a  piece  of  poetry  after  another  person.  The  first  line  in  each 
pair  represents  the  pronunciation  of  the  adult,  the  second  the  imitation 
of  the  child : 

Outer  Mond,  du  gehst  so  stille, 

Tute  Bohnd,  du  tehz  so  tinne. 

Durch  die  Abend  wolken  hin, 
Duch  die  Aten-honten  in. 

Gehst  so  traurig,  und  ich  ftihle, 
Tehz  so  tautech,  und  ich  bUne. 

Dass  ich  ohne  Ruhe  bin, 
Dass  ich  one  Ule  bin. 

Outer  Mond,  du  darfst  es  wlssen, 
Tute  Bohnd,  du  atz  es  bitten, 

Weil  du  so  verschwiegen  bist, 
Bein  do  so  bieten  bitz. 
Warum  meine  Thranen  fliessen, 
Amum  meine  Tanen  bieten. 
Und  mein  Herz  so  traurig  ist, 
,  Und  mein  Aetz  so  atich  iz. 


140  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OP  CHILDHOOD. 

Vocabularies.  —  I  have  taken  the  trouble  to  collect,  for 
purposes  of  comparison,  a  number  of  vocabularies  of  children, 
which  have  been  recorded  by  careful  and  competent  observ- 
ers, with  as  much  completeness  and  accuracy  as  possible. 
I  will  now  give  these  in  summarized  form,  so  as  to  show 
the  relative  frequency  of  the  various  sounds  as  initial,  and 
also  the  relative  frequency  of  the  various  parts  of  speech. 
In  order  the  more  accurately  to  show  the  sounds  actually 
made  by  the  child,  I  have  been  obliged  to  use  an  alphabet 
differing  somewhat  from  the  ordinary  English  alphabet. 
The  following  changes  are  made:  c  is  dropped  out  alto- 
gether, such  words  as  corner,  candy,  etc.,  being  classed  under 
k ;  words  like  centre,  cigar,  etc.,  under  s ;  and  words  like 
chain,  cheese,  chair,  etc.,  forming  a  new  series  under  ch. 
Words  like  George,  gentleman,  etc.,  are  classed  under  j 
instead  of  g ;  words  like  Philip  under  /;  words  like  knife, 
knee,  etc.,  under  ?i ;  and  words  like  wrap,  write,  etc.,  under 
r.  Other  new  letters  besides  ch  are  sh  and  th.  In  short, 
it  is  sought  to  classify  the  child's  words  according  to  his 
pronunciation,  and  not  according  to  the  English  alphabet. 
If  he  says  tatie  for  potato,  the  word  is  classed  under  t.  I 
am  convinced  that  this  is  the  only  way  to  obtain  reliable 
and  valuable  results. 

I.  A  child  of  nine  months  is  reported  as  speaking  "  nine 
words  plainly."     The  words  are  not  given. 

II.  A  boy  at  twelve  months  has  "four  words  of  his 
own." 

III.  A  child  of  twelve  months  uses  ten  words  with  mean, 
ing.  Six  of  these  are  nouns,  two  adjectives  and  two 
verbs.  The  initial  sounds  are  m  (three  times),  p  (four 
times),  n,  a  and  A;  (each  once). 

IV.  A  child  of  one  year  used  eight  words,  seven  of  which 
were  nouns,  and  one  an  adverb.  The  initial  sounds  are  6 
(four  times),  m,  p,  d  and  u  (one  each). 


LANGUAGE.  141 

v.  The  boy  R.  had  at  command  about  twenty  words, 
thirteen  of  which  were  nouns,  and  four  or  five  inter jectional 
words,     For  initial  sound  6  was  perferred,  then  p  and  t. 

VI.  Another  child  is  reported,  at  fifteen  months,  as  hav- 
ing "  syllables,  but  no  words." 

VII.  A  girl  of  seventeen  months  is  reported  as  using 
thirty-five  words,  twenty-two  of  which  are  nouns,  four 
verbs,  two  adjectives,  four  adverbs  and  three  interjections. 
The  initial  sounds  are  d  (eight  times),  s  (four),  m,  & 
and  ch  (three  each),  p,  t,  k,  a  and  y  (two  each),  i,  j,  n,  o 
(one  each). 

VIII.  A  girl  of  twenty-two  months  uses  twenty-eight 
words,  distributed  as  follows :  Nouus  sixteen,  verbs  three, 
adjectives  three,  adverbs  and  interjections  five.  Tlie  initial 
sounds  are  b  (six  times),  d  (five),  7n  (four),  p  (three),  g,  h 
and  k  (two  each),  e,  *,  n  and  o  (one  each). 

IX.  A  girl  at  two  years  employs  thirty-six  words,  dis- 
tributed as  follows:  Nouns  sixteen,  adjectives  four,  pro- 
nouns three,  verbs  seven,  adverbs  three,  interjections  three. 
Initial  sounds  are,  p  (five  times),  m,  b  and  to  (each  four 
times),  g,  k  and  h  (each  three  times),  d,  i,  n  and  r  (each 
twice),  a  and  o  (each  once). 


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LANGUAGE.  145 

Summarizing  these  vocabularies,  we  find  some  interesting 
facts  bearing  on  language-growth,  both  on  the  physiological 
and  on  the  psychological  side. 

For  example,  with  regard  to  the  relative  frequency  of  the 
various  parts  of  speech,  the  following  table  is  instructive. 
Of  the  five  thousand  four  hundred  words  comprising  these 
vocabularies  ^ 

60    per  cent  are  nouns. 


20      " 

u 

u 

verbs. 

9      " 

(( 

(( 

adjectives. 

6     " 

(( 

(I 

adverbs. 

2      " 

(I 

(I 

pronouns. 

2      " 

li 

i( 

prepositions. 

1.7  " 

(( 

u 

interjections. 

0.3  " 

(( 

a 

conjunctions. 

100.0 

Of  the  nouns,  less  than  one  per  cent  are  abstract.  Nearly 
all  are  names  of  persons  or  familiar  objects.  The  majority, 
in  the  earlier  months,  seem  to  be  used  almost  with  the 
force  of  proper  nouns,  as  Schultheiss  has  also  observed.  The 
adjectives  are  mostly  those  of  size,  temperature,  cleanliness 
and  its  opposite,  and  similar  familiar  notions.  This  table 
also  corroborates  Sigismund's  observation  that  the  conjunc- 
tion is  especially  difficult.  Another  interesting  point  is  the 
comparison  of  the  above  table  with  a  similar  table,  showing 
the  relative  frequency  of  the  various  parts  of  speech  in 
ordinary  adult  language.  Professor  Kirkpatrick  says  that 
of  the  words  in  the  English  language, 

1  In  all  the  calculations  that  follow,  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to 
include,  along  with  my  own  vocabularies,  those  of  Professor  Holden, 
and  Professor  Humphreys,  which  I  have  re-arranged  phonetically  fo 
the  purpose. 


146  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

60    per  cent  are  nouns. 
11      "       "      "    verbs. 
22     «       ''      "   adjectives. 
5.5  "       "      "    adverbs. 

An  important  consideration  is  involved  here.  If  we  look 
only  at  the  first  of  these  two  tables,  and  consider  the 
child's  words  by  themselves,  it  will  seem  that  the  nouns 
have  greatly  the  advantage  over  the  other  parts  of  speech. 
But  such  a  conclusion  obviously  cannot  be  drawn,  unless  a 
comparison  of  the  child's  vocabulary  with  that  of  the  adult 
justifies  us  in  so  doing.  In  order  to  show  that  the  child 
learns  nouns  more  easily  than  verbs,  we  must  be  able  to 
show  that  the  number  of  his  nouns  bears  a  larger  propor- 
tion to  the  number  of  nouns  he  will  use  as  an  adult,  than 
the  number  of  his  verbs  bears  to  the  number  of  verbs  he 
will  use  in  adult  life.  To  represent  the  matter  symboli- 
cally, 

Let    n  =  the  proportion  of  nouns  in  the  child's  vocabulary. 
And  N  =     "  "  "       "       "    "    man's  " 

Let    V  =     "  "  "  verbs   "    "     child's  " 

And  V  =     "  "  "       "       "    "    man's  " 

Then,  if  the  child  learns  nouns  more  easily  than  verbs, 
the  proportion  of  n  to  N  will  be  greater  than  that  of  v  to  V. 
But  on  comparing  the  two  tables,  the  very  opposite  is 
found  to  be  the  case. 

For  ^=^^=1 

N      60 

But  ^  =  1=1.81. 

In  other  words,  the  child  of  two  years  has  made  nearly 
twice  as  much  progress  in  learning  to  use  verbs  as  in  learn- 


LANGUAGE.  147 

ing  to  use  nouns  ;  according  to  my  tables  of  child-language 
and  Professor  Kirkpatrick's  table  of  adult-language.''  A 
comparison  of  the  adjectives  and  adverbs  in  the  two  tables 
justifies  a  similar  conclusion  in  favor  of  the  adverb.  To 
my  mind,  this  fact  —  which,  so  far  as  I  know,  has  been 
hitherto  overlooked  by  all  writers  on  child-language  —  pos- 
sesses great  value  for  philology  and  pedagogy  as  well  as  for 
psychology.  In  the  first  place  it  supports  the  view  that 
the  acquisition  of  language  in  the  individual  and  in  the  race 
proceeds  by  similar  stages  and  along  similar  lines.  Max 
Miiller  says  that  the  primitive  Sanscrit  roots  of  the  Indo- 
Germanic  languages  all  represent  actions  and  not  objects  ; 
that  in  the  race  the  earliest  ideas  to  assume  such  strength 
and  vividness  as  to  break  out  beyond  the  limits  of  gesture 
and  clothe  themselves  in  words  are  ideas  of  movement, 
activity.  We  have  found,  from  examination  of  the  vocabu- 
laries of  these  twentj'-five  children,  that  the  ideas  which 
are  of  greatest  importance  in  the  infant  mind,  and  so  clothe 
themselves  most  frequently  (relatively),  in  words,  are  the 
ideas  of  actions  and  not  objects,  of  doing  instead  of  being. 
The  child  learns  to  use  action-words  (verbs)  more  readily 
than  object-words  (nouns)  ;  and  words  descriptive  of  actions 
(adverbs)  more  readily  than  words  descriptive  of  objects 
(adjectives).^ 

1  This  statement  is  still  further  confirmed  by  a  vocabulary  received 
since  the  publication  of  the  first  edition.  It  is  the  vocabulary  of  a  five- 
year-old  boy  in  Minneapolis.  Of  the  sixteen  hundred  words  spoken 
by  this  boy,  19  per  cent  were  verbs  and  only  53  per  cent  nouns. 

2  Professor  Kirkpatrick,  in  a  private  note,  suggests  that,  since  his 
tables  of  adult  language  are  taken  from  the  dictionary,  they  very  likely 
do  not  represent  truly  the  vocabulary  of  the  average  adult.  It  appears 
that,  in  "  Robinson  Crusoe,"  the  proportion  of  nouns  to  verbs  is  not 
60  to  11,  but  45  to  24.  If  "  Robinson  Crusoe"  represents  the  average 
adult  vocabulary,  then  the  conclusions  stated  in  the  text  will  need 


148  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

In  the  second  place  this  fact  confirms  the  Froebelian 
principle,  on  which  child-education  is  coming  more  and 
more  to  be  based,  viz.,  that  education  proceeds  most  naturally 
(and,  therefore,  most  easily  and  rapidly)  along  the  line  of 
motor  activity.^  The  child  should  not  be  so  much  the 
receptacle  of  instruction,  as  the  agent  of  investigation.  Let 
him  do  things,  and  by  doing  he  will  most  readily  learn.  He 
should  not  he  passive,  but  active  in  his  own  education.  The 
kindergarten  is  the  modern  incarnation  of  this  idea,  but 
the  idea  itself  is  as  old  as  Aristotle,  who  says,  "  We  learn 
an  art  by  doing  that  which  we  wish  to  do  when  we  have 
learned  it;  we  become  builders  by  building,  and  harpers 
by  harping.  And  so  by  doing  just  acts  we  become  just, 
and  by  doing  acts  of  temperance  and  courage  we  become 
temperate  and  courageous."  ^ 

Turning  now  to  the  consideration  of  these  vocabularies 
from  the  standpoint  of  ease  or  difficulty  of  pronunciation  of 
the  various  simple  sounds,  we  find  some  instructive  data 
here  also.  The  following  table  shows  the  relative  frequency 
of  the  various  sounds  as  initial.  In  this  calculation  no  heed 
is  p^aid  to  the  English  spelling  of  the  words,  but  only  to  the 
sounds  actually  uttered  by  the  child,  as  already  pointed  out. 
Of  the  five  thousand  four  hundred  words 


revision.  I  imagine,  however,  that  in  a  book  so  full  of  action  as 
•'  Robinson  Crusoe,"  the  verb  element  would  be  unusually  strong. 

1  My  colleague,  Professor  van  der  Smissen,  gives  me  the  very  interest- 
ing observation,  that  his  little  girl,  who  is  just  learning  to  talk,  uses 
many  sentences  in  which  the  verbs  are  not  spoken  at  all,  but  acted,  all 
the  other  words  in  the  sentence  being  spoken.  E.g.,  "  Willie  whipped 
the  pussy,"  would  be  expressed  by  the  words,  "Willie  .  .  .  pussy," 
accompanied  by  a  lively  slapping  movement  of  one  hand  upon  the 
other, 

a  "Eth.  Nic,"  Book.  II.  Chap.  I.  par.  4. 


LANGUAGE.  149 

11     per  cent  begin  with  the  sound  of  b. 


9 

(( 

8 

« 

6.1 

(( 

6 

(( 

6 

(I 

6 

(( 

5.2 

(( 

4 

n 

4 

il 

3.2 

li 

3.1 

u 

3 

n 

3 

(( 

2 

i( 

o 

u 

1.3 

(( 

1.2 

(( 

1.1 

li 

1 

a 

1 

u 

1 

a 

0.8 

u 

0.5 

t( 

0.2 

a 

(( 

il 

«  k. 

u 

il 

"  p. 

<( 

il 

«  h. 

(I 

il 

"  d. 

« 

11 

«  m. 

« 

li 

"  L 

i( 

11 

"  w. 

(( 

li 

"  /■ 

u 

11 

"  n. 

<( 

li 

"  9' 

il 

11 

"  I 

li 

il 

"  a. 

il 

il 

"  r. 

11 

li 

"  t. 

li 

a 

''  sk. 

u 

11 

"  th. 

li 

li 

«  e. 

li 

il 

"  o. 

li 

11 

"  ch. 

11 

11 

"  J- 

11 

li 

"  y- 

a 

11 

"  u. 

il 

11 

"  V. 

u 

11 

"   Q- 

A  glance  at  this  table  shows  how  prominent  a  place  the 
explosive  consonants  occupy  as  initial  sounds  in  child-lan- 
guage.^   The  vowels,  on  the  contrary,  though  undoubtedly 

1  The  vocabulary  of  the  five-year-old  Minneapolis  boy,  spoken  of  in 
a  previous  footnote,  conforms,  in  the  main,  to  this  order.  The  five 
sounds  he  used  most  frequently  as  initial  are  s,  p,  b,  k,/,  in  the  order 
named. 


150  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

the  earliest  sounds  to  be  used  in  most  cases,  are  very  in- 
frequent as  initial,  not  only  absolutely  but  relatively.  In 
the  English  dictionaries  the  vowel  a  occupies  fourth  place 
as  initial  letter ;  in  my  tables  it  occupies  fourteenth  place ; 
while  the  other  vowels  stand  still  lower.  The  reason 
of  this  is  not  far  to  seek.  It  is  simply  a  case  of  the 
operation  of  the  law  of  physiological  ease  ;  as  any  one  may 
verify  by  pronouncing,  in  succession,  the  following  syl- 
lables :  ap,  pa,  ab,  ha,  ak,  lea,  am,  ma,  ad,  da;  and  observing 
how  much  more  easily  those  syllables  are  pronounced  in 
which  the  consonant  leads  and  the  vowel  follows. 

Another  interesting  feature  of  this  table  is  the  high  place 
occupied  by  the  guttural  k  as  initial  sound.  It  stands 
above  p  and  m,  and  next  to  s  and  h.  This  fact  does  not 
bear  out  the  theory  propounded  by  several  writers  on  child- 
language,  that  those  sounds  are  selected  by  the  child  foi 
earliest  acquirement  whose  pronunciation  involves  those 
portions  of  the  vocal  apparatus  which  are  most  easily  seen, 
such  as  the  lips.  According  to  this  theory,  not  only  the 
labial  p),  but  the  sounds  d,  m,f,  sh,  th,  etc.,  ought  to  stand 
high  in  the  list,  because  the  movements  involved  in  their 
pronunciation  are  plainly  visible ;  while  the  guttural  k, 
whose  movements  are  absolutely  out  of  sight,  should  stand 
very  low.  The  contrary  is  the  case ;  k  stands  thiid  in  the 
list  of  initial  sounds,  while  th,  whose  movements  are  exceed- 
ingly obvious  to  sight,  occupies  the  eighteenth  place.  This 
seems  to  prove  that  the  child  does  not  learn  to  utter  sounds 
by  watching  the  mouths  of  those  who  utter  them  in  his 
presence ;  and  this  opinion  is  confirmed  by  the  observation 
of  Schultze,  that  the  child  does  not  usually  look  at  the 
mouth,  but  at  the  eyes  of  the  person  speaking  to  him.  On 
the  other  hand  there  seems  no  sufficient  ground  for  the 
statement  that  the  law  of  least  effort  is  overturned  by  this 
frequency  of  the  sound  of  k.     This  guttural  sound  is,  for 


LANGUAGE.  151 

most  children,  no  more  difficult  than  the  labials.  Often  it 
is  one  of  the  very  earliest  sounds  employed.  I  know  one 
child  witli  whom  it  is  more  frequently  used  than  even  h.  In 
short,  so  far  as  my  observations  go,  I  have  no  hesitation  in 
saying  that  the  child's  earliest  vocal  utterances  are  not 
acquired  by  imitation  at  all,  either  of  sound  or  of  move- 
ment, but  that  they  are  purely  impulsive  in  their  character. 
They  are  simply  the  result  of  the  overflow  of  motor  energy, 
which  we  have  seen  so  prominent  in  other  departments  of 
the  child's  life ;  and  they  proceed  at  first  along  the  lines  of 
least  resistance. 

In  the  following  tables  I  have  given  the  results  of  a  care- 
ful examination  of  seven  hundred  instances  of  mispronun- 
ciation which  I  have  found  in  the  above  vocabularies.  The 
first  table  shows  the  various  sounds  in  the  order  of  the 
number  of  times  thev  are  misused,  as  well  as  the  ways  in 
whicli  they  are  misused ;  the  second  and  third  tables  enter 
into  more  detail. 

In  the  following  table  the  first  column  gives  the  sound 
misused;  the  second  shows  the  number  of  times  it  is  re- 
placed by  another  sound ;  the  third  shows  how  often  it  is 
dropped,  without  being  replaced;  and  the  fourth  shows 
how  often  it  is  brought  into  a  word  to  which  it  does  not 
belong  (not  as  a  substitute  for  some  other  sound,  but  as  a 
pure  interpolation,  for  no  apparent  reason'). 


152 


THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 


Sound 
Misused. 

Re- 
placed. 

Dropped. 

Inter- 
polated. 

Total. 

Sound 
Misused. 

Re- 
placed. 

Dropped. 

Inter- 
polated. 

Total. 

R 

51 

87 

4 

142 

w 

7 

5 

3 

16 

L 

35 

70 

105 

Ch 

13 

13 

S 

25 

34 

1 

60 

Y 

1 

10 

1 

12 

G 

25 

6 

31 

V 

8 

2 

10 

T 

13 

17 

1 

31 

E 

2 

5 

7 

Sh 

26 

4 

30 

H 

2 

5 

7 

K 

20 

8 

28 

J 

5 

5 

Th 

21 

2 

23 

P 

4 

1 

5 

(hard) 

A 

4 

4 

F 

15 

4 

1 

20 

M 

4 

4 

D 

5 

12 

2 

19 

Wh 

3 

3 

Th 

14 

4 

18 

0 

3 

3 

(soft) 

B 

3 

3 

Ng 

15 

15 

Z 

1 

1 

2 

N 

7 

7 

1 

15 

Q 

1 

1 

The  following  table  shows  the  relative  frequency  of 
replacement  of  the  sounds  when  initial,  medial,  and  final, 
and  also  (in  the  case  of  the  consonants)  when  occurring 
as  one  member  of  a  double  consonant  {e.g.,  as  r  in  cream). 
It  also  gives  the  relative  frequency  of  the  substituted 
sounds : 


Sound 
Eeplaced. 

When 
Initial. 

When 
Medial. 

When 
Final. 

When 
Double. 

Replaced 
by 

Times. 

Examples. 

W 

29 

kweem    (cream). 

1 

6 

tommolla  (tomorrow). 

R 

21 

21 

9 

4 

y 

e 

V 

t 
m 

P 

k 

3 

8 

all  yite    (all  right), 
tumblie  (tumbler), 
voom       (room), 
tautech  (traurlg). 

pipe         (ripe). 
Kaka      (Carrie). 

LANGUAGE. 


153 


Sound 

When 

When 

When 

When 

Replaced 

Times. 

Replaced. 

Initial. 

Medial. 

Filial. 

Double. 

by. 

L 

8 

8 

19 

3 

e 

w 

u 

n 

t 

b 

d 

00 

9 
7 
7 
4 
3 
2 
2 
1 

Sh 

17 

2 

7 

s 
h 
b 
t 
n 

19 
4 
1 
1 

1 

S 

18 

4 

3 

6 

t 
h 
f 
b 
d 

8 
8 
3 
3 
3 

G 

19 

5 

1 

4 

d 
k 
t 
b 
w 

J 
n 

17 
2 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 

Th  (hard) 

11 

3 

7 

6 

f 
t 

s 

P 
d 
n 
r 

10 
4 
3 
1 
1 
1 
1 

K 

11 

7 

2 

7 

t 
s 

g 
d 

15 
2 

2 

1 

F 

7 

4 

4 

2 

P 

s 
k 

t 

6 
5 
2 
2 

Examples. 


mmnie 

table 

singu 

setta 

bampe 

degen 

apoo 


fis 
hoogar 


(milk). 

(table). 

(shingle). 

(celery). 

(lampe). 

(legen). 

(apple). 


(fish), 
(sugar). 


tooz  (shoes). 


tweet 
hlate 
poofee 

dide 

dass 

hookoo 

toss 

bavy 

detting 


(sweet). 

(slate). 

(pussy). 

(side). 

(glass). 

(sugar). 

(gross). 

(gravy). 

(getting). 


free  (three), 

mous  (mouth), 

tank  (thank), 

harf  (hearth), 

nuppin  (nothing). 


bastet  (basket), 

sun  (come), 

untie  (uncle), 

tanny  (candy). 

nup  (enough). 

bUttersy  (butterfly). 

kork  (fork) . 

6t  (off). 


154 


THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 


Sound. 

When 
Initial. 

When 
Medial. 

When 
Final. 

When 
Double. 

Replaced 
by. 

Times. 

Examples. 

Ng 

6 

10 

1 

n 
e 
a 

12 

2 

1 

flnner      (finger), 
tockies  (stockings). 

lockatair  (rocking  chair). 

Th  (soft) 

11 

3 

d 

13 

1 

altogedder  (altogether), 
dare         (there) . 

T 

7 

e 
k 
w 

g 
P 

6 
4 

1 
1 
1 

dockie      (doctor), 
bankie     (blanket). 
Jackie       (jacket), 
coak         (coat), 
wawer     (water). 

Ch 

9 

2 

2 

1 

s 

t 

sh 

7 
4 
2 

sair          (chair), 
tillens     (children), 
shick        (chick). 

V 

1 

5 

2 

b 
f 
d 

5 

2 
1 

gib           (give), 
shufer      (shovel). 
Dadie      (David). 

N 

1 

6 

e 

m 

1 

4 

2 

1 

buttie       (button), 
pirn          (pin), 
lemolade  (lemonade). 

W 

6 

1 

V 

1 

6 
1 

go  vay    (go  away), 
lalla         (water). 

D 

1 

4 

n 
t 
k 

2 

2 
1 

towntownt  (down  town). 
vinner      (window), 
kankie     (candy). 

J 

4 

1 

d 

g 

4 

1 

demidon  (demijohn). 

Gekkie    (Jessie). 

P 

3 

1 

1 

b 
t 

2 
2 

bee          (please), 
patie        (paper). 

M 

2 

2 

k 
n 
w 

2 
1 
1 

hankie    (hammer). 
Waggle    (Maggie). 

Wh 

3 

f 
h 

2 
1 

feel          (wheel), 
haiah       (where). 

LANGUAGE. 


155 


The  following  table  gives  similar  information  with  regard 
to  the  dropping  of  difficult  sounds : 


Sound 
Dropped. 

When 
Initial. 

When 
Medial. 

When 
Final. 

When 
Double. 

Examples. 

R 

2 

61 

24 

50 

each        (reach), 
apicot      (apricot), 
dotta       (daug;hter). 
baselet    (bracelet) . 

L 

10 

37 

23 

39 

etta  be    (let  me  be). 
peeze       (please), 
fa            (fall), 
buttafy   (butterfly). 

S 

27 

4 

3 

30 

poon        (spoon). 
Bottie     (Boston). 
g:\            (gas). 
tabewie  (strawberry). 

156 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 


Sound 
Dropped. 

When 
Initial. 

When 
Medial. 

When 
Final. 

When 
Double. 

Examples. 

T 

9 

8 

8 

dissance    (distance), 
bonny       (bonnet), 
sottin        (slocking). 

D 

1 

6 

6 

12 

sanny       (sandy), 
gamma     (grandma), 
bines         (blinds). 

Y 

6 

4 

ard           (yard), 
panna       (piano). 

K 

4 

2 

2 

2 

opf            (kopf). 
basset       (basket), 
boo           (book). 

N 

1 

6 

1 

pi              (pin), 
burr          (burn). 

G 

6 

1 

atten        (garten). 

W 

6 

ont            (want). 
oodn't      (wouldn't). 

E 

3 

2 

nuff          (enough), 
koff           (coffee). 

H 

5 

eah           (here). 

Sh 

4 

litta          (schlitten). 

F 

3 

1 

2 

satie  pin  (safety  pin^. 
natanoon  (afternoon). 

Th  (soft) 

3 

1 

at              (that), 
ober  air   (over  there). 

A 

4 

fade          (afraid), 
nudda       (another). 

Th  (hard) 

2 

ba             (bath), 
mao          (mouth). 

V 

1 

1 

ammum    (warum). 
Duttie       (Gustave). 

P 

1 

tatie         (potato). 

Z 

1 

no             (nose). 

LANGUAGE.  157 

A  word  of  caution  is  perhaps  necessary  here.  These 
tables  do  not  show  accurately  the  order  of  difiiculty  of  the 
various  sounds,  inasmuch  as  they  indicate  the  misuse  of  the 
sounds,  not  relatively  to  the  number  of  correct  pronuncia- 
tions of  each  sound,  but  only  relatively  to  the  total  number 
of  mispronunciations.  For  example,  in  the  first  table  q 
seems  an  easier  sound  than  h,  because  it  is  only  misused 
once,  while  6  is  misused  three  times.  But  if  we  remember 
that  in  the  vocabularies  b  occurs  fifty-five  times  as  often  as 
q,  the  case  is  entirely  altered.  Considered  in  this  way,  the 
order  of  diificulty,  according  to  my  observations,  is  approx- 
imately the  following :  r,  I,  th,  v,  sh,  y,  g,  ch,  s,  j,  e,  f,  t,  n,  q, 
d,  k,  o,  w,  a,  h,  m,  p,  b.  The  most  difficult  sound  is  r  and 
the  easiest  b. 

It  will  be  observed  also  that,  according  to  these  tables, 
mispronunciation  is  very  frequent  in  the  case  of  double  con- 
sonants, and  most  frequent  of  all  in  those  combinations 
which  belong  to  what  Mr.  Pitman  calls  the  pi  and  pr  series. 
Such  words  as  cream,  bracelet,  and  Jly  are  almost  always 
mutilated ;  sometimes  r  and  I  are  replaced  by  w  or  some 
other  sound ;  sometimes  they  are  omitted  altogether. 

Another  thing  to  be  observed  is  that  the  choice  of  a  sub- 
stitute for  a  difficult  sound  is  often  determined  by  the  prom- 
inent consonant  in  the  preceding  or  succeeding  syllable. 
This  leads  to  a  reduplication  of  the  easier  sound  in  prefer- 
ence to  the  use  of  the  more  difficult  one.  The  child  says 
caivJcee  for  coffee,  kork  for  fork,  or  Id  lo  for  la  haut.  The 
number  of  these  reduplications  is  very  large,  and  the  device 
is  adopted  also  in  the  case  of  difficult  vowels  ;  e.  g.,  Deedie 
occurs  for  Edie,  and  Dlda  for  Ida. 

Another  significant  thing  is  the  frequency  with  which  the 
sound  of  e  is  used  as  a  substitute  for  difficult  sounds,  both 
vowel  and  consonantal,  especially  at  the  end  of  a  word.  The 
child  says  ittii  for  little,  finnie  iox  finger,  and  ninnie  for  drink. 


158  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

In  addition  to  the  mispronunciations  tabulated  above,  I 
find  a  large  number  of  miscellaneous  mispronunciations 
difficult  to  classify,  such  as  the  following :  medniss  for 
medicine,  Mangie  fag  for  American  flag,  skoogie  for  excuse 
me,  kidlie  for  tickle,  pa-ta-soo  for  patent  leather  shoes,  etc. 

If  we  seek  now  to  discover  some  principle  underlying  the 
development  of  child-speech  from  the  psychic  point  of  view, 
we  shall  find,  I  believe,  that  principle  of  transformation, 
which  we  have  already  observed  so  frequently  elsewhere, 
operating  in  this  sphere  also.  The  earliest  utterances  of 
the  new-born  have  little  or  no  psychic  significance.  As 
expressions  of  his  thought,  they  have  none  at  all.  But  by 
slow  degrees  these  primitive  utterances,  modified,  increased 
and  combined,  are  associated  with  ideas,  which  are  also 
modified,  increased  and  combined,  until  finally  the  instru- 
ment of  language  is  completely  under  control,  and  becomes 
the  adequate  medium  for  the  expression  of  thought. 

Not  only  may  we  make  this  statement  in  this  general  way, 
but  it  seems  possible  to  trace,  with  approximate  minuteness, 
the  progress  of  a  sound  upward,  from  the  earliest  unexpres- 
sive  condition  to  the  highest,  latest,  most  expressive  state, 
and  to  indicate  the  principal  stages  on  the  way.  These 
stages  appear  to  be  the  same  as  those  through  which  move- 
ments pass,  viz.,  the  impulsive,  the  reflex,  the  instinctive,  and 
the  ideational.  The  first  sounds  uttered  by  the  child  are 
simply  the  spontaneous  will-less,  idea-less  manifestation  of 
native  motor  energy.  They  do  not  require  a  sensory,  but 
only  a  motor  process,  and  that  motor  process  is  automatic. 
The  same  overflowing  energy,  the  same  muscle-instinct, 
which  impels  the  child  to  grasp  with  the  hands,  to  kick 
with  the  feet,  etc.,  impels  him  also  to  the  exercise  of  his 
lips,  tongue,  larynx  and  lungs.  This  is   the  impulsive 

stage.  Then  we  find  him  uttering  sounds  in  response 
to    certain   sensations.     He  sees  a  bright  light,  hears   a 


LANGUAGE.  159 

peculiar  sound,  feels  a  soft,  warm  touch,  and  these  sen- 
sations call  forth  certain  sounds.  These  sounds  are  still 
only  babblings,  not  involving  the  cooperation  of  will,  but 
they  do  involve  sensory  as  well  as  motor  processes.  The 
reflex  arc,  in  its  simplest  form,  is  complete.  Here  imitation 
takes  its  rise.  This  is  the  reflexive  stage.  In  the  next  place 
we  can  detect  certain  sounds  which  are  expressive  of  the 
child's  needs,  and  though  still  uttered  probably  without 
conscious  intention,  yet  have  a  purpose  and  an  end,  viz., 
the  satisfaction  of  those  needs.  The  cry,  which  was  at  first 
monotonous  and  expressionless,  now  becomes  differentiated 
to  express  various  states  of  feeling,  hunger,  pain,  weariness, 
etc.  Here  we  have  the  instinctive  stage.  Finally  the  will 
takes  full  possession  of  the  apparatus  of  speech,  the  child 
utters  his  words  with  conscious  intention ;  imitation  of 
sounds,  from  being  passive  and  unconscious,  becomes  active 
and  conscious ;  and  words  are  joined  together  to  give  ex- 
pression to  ideas  of  constantly  increasing  complexity.  Here 
we  have  reached  the  ideational  or  deliberative  stage. 

As  an  example  of  the  transformation  of  a  single  sound 
through  all  these  successive  stages,  let  us  take  that  sound 
which  is,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  the  first  articulation,  the 
syllable  ma.  At  first  this  is  pure  spontaneity.  The  child 
lies  contentedly  in  his  cradle,  motor  energy  overflows,  the 
lips  move,  gently  opening  and  closing,  while  the  breath  is 
expired,  and  this  sound  is  produced,  mamamama.  As  yet 
it  has  no  meaning ;  it  is  a  purely  automatic  utterance.  But 
by  and  by  the  same  sound  is  called  forth  by  certain  sensa- 
tions, one  of  which  is  very  probably  the  sight  of  the  mother, 
or  of  some  other  person.  The  word  as  yet  has  no  definite 
meaning,  but  is  merely  a  sort  of  vague  demonstrative  ejacu- 
lation, a  pure  reflex.  Later  it  becomes  the  expression  of 
certain  bodily  needs  and  conditions,  and  now  the  hungry 
child  utters  this  sound  as  the  expression  of  the  need  of  his 


160  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

natural  nourishment.  By  this  means,  the  word  becomes 
firmly  associated  with  the  mother,  first  probably  with  the 
breast  only,  but  afterwards  with  her  person  in  general, 
and  so  the  final  step  in  the  transition  is  made,  and  the  word 
mama  now  passes  out  of  the  semi-conscious,  instinctive 
stage  into  the  ideational.  It  becomes  firmly  associated  with 
the  mother,  and  with  her  only,  it  is  used  with  a  conscious 
purpose  of  communicating  to  her  the  child's  wishes  and 
ideas,  and,  finally,  in  her  absence,  it  is  used  in  such  a  way 
as  to  show  that  her  image  is  firmly  stamped  on  his  mind, 
and  retained  in  his  memory.  In  later  life,  more  abstract 
and  complex  applications  of  this  word  are  gradually  mas- 
tered; but  we  have  followed  it  far  enough  in  its  devel- 
opment for  our  present  purpose.  This  word  was  chosen 
because  it  probably  exemplifies  better  than  any  other  the 
principle  which  we  desired  to  illustrate,  being  associated 
with  those  feelings  which  arise  earliest,  last  longest,  and 
take  the  deepest  hold  upon  the  human  soul;  but  almost 
any  primitive  utterance  of  infancy  could  be  employed  to 
exemplify,  in  a  less  complete  manner,  the  principle  enun- 
ciated. 


V 


CHAPTER   VI. 

ESTHETIC,    MORAL,  AND  RELIGIOUS  IDEAS. 

In  former  editions  I  have  not  ventured  into  this  large  and 
important  field;  and  I  do  so  now,  not  with  any  thought  of 
covering  it,  but  merely  to  draw  attention  to  some  of  the 
more  significant  features,  which  recent  investigations  have 
brought  to  light,  as  marking  the  development  of  the  average 
child  in  these  aspects  of  his  nature. 

In  discussing  the  development  of  the  aesthetic  in  child- 
hood, I  shall  refer  more  especially  to  the  appreciation  of  the 
beautiful,  and  to  the  reproduction,  by  children,  in  pictures, 
of  objects  presented  to  their  view. 

Children,  at  a  very  early  age,  are  attracted  by  bright 
colors.  As  early  as  the  third  or  fourth  month  they  have 
been  observed  to  look  fixedly  at  gayly  colored  objects,  such 
as  tassels,  curtains,  and  even  pictures.  There  is,  of  course, 
in  the  latter  case,  no  comprehension  of  the  picture  as  a 
representation.  The  symbolic  and  representative  character 
of  the  picture  is  entirely  lost  on  the  young  child.  The 
picture  is  to  him  a  real  object.  He  sees  it  merely  as  a  fact, 
a  presentation,  and  not  at  all  as  a  symbol.  In  the  same  way 
his  own  image  in  the  mirror  is  to  him  at  first  merely  a 
presentation.  Children  must  learn  gradually,  through  ex- 
perience, the  symbolic  and  representative  character  of  all 
such  things. 

If  this  be  true,  it  follows  also  that  the  young  child  cannot 
and  does  not  draw  pictures  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  term. 

161 


162  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

That  is  to  say,  there  is  an  age  at  which  lie  cannot  under- 
stand anything  as  a  symbol  or  representation,  and  therefore 
he  cannot  consciously  and  intentionally  produce  a  picture 
as  a  representation  of  an  object.  In  fact,  we  find  here  the 
same  law  of  development,  involving  the  same  principle  of 
transformation,  as  we  have  found  everywhere  else  in  the 
mental  life  of  childhood.  The  first  performance  of  a  child 
with  a  pencil  and  paper  is  merely  an  aimless  scribble, 
involving,  on  the  mental  side,  nothing  more  than  an  outflow 
of  energy,  with  possibly  a  vague,  sensori-motor  imitation 
of  movements  made  by  older  persons  in  his  presence.  The 
product  is,  of  course,  not  a  representation,  though  it  may, 
by  accident,  resemble  some  object.  There  was  no  inten- 
tion to  produce  a  representation,  no  attempt  to  project  on 
the  paper  any  idea  in  the  mind. 

Beginning  probably  about  the  third  or  fourth  year,  we 
may  observe  the  dawning  of  the  idea  of  representation. 
The  child  now  begins  to  draw  objects;  and  it  is  of  the 
greatest  interest  to  observe  what  are  the  things  with  which 
he,  by  preference,  occupies  himself.  Ninety -nine  per  cent 
of  the  drawings  at  this  age  are  drawings  of  human  beings, 
or,  at  least,  are  intended  to  represent  human  beings.  Not 
only  may  we  see  this  prevailing  interest  in  human  person- 
ality, —  as  might  be  expected,  if  we  bear  in  mind  the  fact 
that  the  child  is  surrounded  from  the  beginning  of  his  life 
by  human  beings,  and  looks  to  them  constantly  for  the  sat- 
isfaction of  his  wants, — but  we  may  also  observe  how 
strongly  children's  interests  are  aroused  by  things  that 
move,  in  preference  to  those  that  are  at  rest.  He  tries  to 
represent  the  man  walking  or  running,  swinging  his  arms, 
and,  in  all  probability,  puffing  great  wreaths  of  smoke  from 
an  immensely  elongated  pipe.  If  he  draws  a  house,  it  is 
with  an  abundance  of  chimneys,  all  smoking  profusely. 

But  all  this  comes  at  a  somewhat  more  advanced  stage. 


AESTHETIC,   MORAL,   AND   RELIGIOUS   IDEAS.         163 

The  earliest  drawings  are  very  rude,  and  conspicuously 
lacking  in  fulness  of  detail.  The  child  appears  perfectly 
content  with  the  crudest  sort  of  a  representation,  with 
something  that  can  scarcely  be  called  a  picture  at  all,  but 
is  rather  a  mere  symbol  standing  for,  rather  than  resembling, 
the  object.  A  rude  square  or  circle,  with  perhaps  a  couple 
of  lines  projecting  from  the  lower  side,  is  at  this  stage  a 
satisfactory  representation  of  a  man.  Some  children  add 
an  abundance  of  mere  scribble  instead  of  details;  scribble 
for  hands,  hair,  clothing,  etc.  Indeed,  the  evolution  of  the 
pictorial  art  in  childhood  is  marked  by  the  gradual  decrease 
and  final  elimination  of  scribble ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  by 
the  gradual  increase  in  fulness  and  accuracy  of  detailed 
delineation.  Dr.  Lukens^  found  that  the  scribble-element 
had  well-nigh  disappeared  in  the  fifth  year.  This,  of 
course,  would  vary  greatly  with  different  children. 

We  must  notice  one  more  interesting  feature  of  chil- 
dren's drawings.  For  a  considerable  time  after  the  scribble- 
element  has  been  tolerably  well  eliminated,  the  child  is  still 
unable  to  distinguish  between  what  he  sees  of  the  object 
before  him,  and  what  he  knows  about  the  object.  In  other 
words,  he  is  unable  to  comprehend  perspective.  And  hence, 
in  his  pictures,  he  attempts,  not  a  mere  delineation,  but  a 
description  of  the  object.  He  shows  both  eyes,  and  perhaps 
both  ears,  in  a  profile  of  the  human  face.  He  draws  a  house 
with  three  sides  visible,  and  shows  you  both  the  legs  of  a 
man  riding  on  horseback.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  in  fact, 
that  the  child's  earliest  knowledge  of  an  object  is  of  a 
"  vague  whole  " ;  and  that  his  comprehension  of  parts  and 
relations  of  parts,  as  well  as  his  knowledge  of  how  the  object 
presents  itself  to  the  observer  who  is  viewing  it  from  one 
standpoint  only  (as  in  a  picture),  these  are  achievements  of 

1  Pedagogical  Seminary,  IV. ,  1. 


164  THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

abstraction  which  require  time  and  experience.  It  seems 
therefore  an  unwise  method  that  requires  the  child  to  begin 
by  drawing  such  abstractions  as  lines  and  points,  which  are 
never  found  in  nature.  Let  him  begin  by  drawing  a  whole, 
real  object,  even  though  he  draw  it  ever  so  crudely.  The 
whole,  real  object  is  the  concrete,  and  should  precede  the 
line  and  the  point,  which  are  abstractions. 

Of  the  decorative  as  distinguished  from  the  representative 
in  the  art  of  childhood,  but  little  can  be  said,  so  far  as  the 
child  under  seven  years  of  age  is  concerned.  The  element 
of  ornamentation  was  found,  in  Mrs.  Maitland's  examina- 
tion of  sixteen  hundred  spontaneous  drawings  made  by 
children  of  five  to  seven  years,  to  be  only  3  per  cent  of 
the  whole.  Dr.  O'Shea  asked  a  number  of  children  to  draw 
an  ornamented  chair.  He  found  that  children  of  five  years 
ignored  the  ornamentation  altogether.  This  is  entirely  in 
keeping  with  the  fact,  already  noticed  elsewhere,  that  a 
child's  thought  about  an  object  is  closely  bound  up  with  its 
use  or  purpose,  and  his  spontaneous  definitions  of  objects 
invariably  make  this  feature  prominent.  So  in  drawing. 
The  parts  of  the  object  prominently  concerned  in  its  use  or 
action  are  prominently  portrayed;  while  those  parts  whose 
functions  are  not  obvious,  are  likely  to  be  ignored. 

To  trace  the  rise  and  development  of  the  feeling  of  the 
beautiful  to  anything  like  fulness,  would  carry  us,  as  it 
seems  to  me,  far  beyond  the  period  of  early  child hood^^  The 
infant  is  attracted  by  gay  colors,  but  this  seems  to  be  an  affair 
of  the  sensory  chiefly.  And  even  as  such  it  apparently 
does  not  extend  to  form  or  arrangevient.  A  well-arranged 
bouquet  possesses  no  more  attractions  for  a  child  of  one  or 
two  years  than  an  ill-arranged  one,  so  far  as  my  observa- 
tions go.  Pie  cares  no  more  for  a  beautiful  form  than  for 
one  that  we  adults  would  call  ugly ;  as  witness  the  ardent 
affection  of  many  a  child  for  a  dilapidated  and  filthy  rag- 


AESTHETIC,   MORAL,   AND  RELIGIOUS  IDEAS.        165 

doll  in  preference  to  any  new  and  beautiful  one.  A  boy  of 
two  and  a  half  years,  whom  I  have  had  much  opportunity 
of  observing,  plays  constantly  with  an  old  toy  wagon,  so 
decrepit  as  to  require  almost  daily  repairs,  while  he  ignores 
completely  the  gayly  painted  and  beautiful  new  one  which 
his  father  has  bought  for  him.  This,  of  course,  is  not  held 
to  be  an  evidence  of  a  perverted  sesthetic  taste,  but  rather 
merely  that  aesthetic  considerations  are  as  yet  practically 
inoperative  in  the  choice  of  playthings. 

It  seems  also  extremely  doubtful  whether  a  child  under 
ten  years  of  age  is  able  to  enter  fully  into  those  feelings 
which  actuate  most  adults  on  beholding  a  beautiful  land- 
scape, a  splendid  painting,  or  a  magnificent  product  of 
architectural  skill.  He  is  not  able  as  yet  to  understand  the 
feelings  experienced  by  us  in  the  presence  of  these  things, 
partly,  at  least,  because  he  is  not  yet  strong  enough,  men- 
tally, to  grasp  them  as  total  effects,  but  can  notice  only  some 
prominent  and  striking  detail ;  partly,  also,  because  there  is 
but  little  movement  or  life  in  the  landscape,  and  none  at  all 
in  the  painting  or  the  building.  All  the  actions  of  little 
children  go  to  show  that  their  preferences  are  determined 
far  more  by  the  amount  of  vitality  and  movement  in  the 
object  than  by  any  sesthetic  qualities  it  may  possess. 

Passing  now  to  a  brief  notice  of  the  moral  nature  of  child- 
hood, I  must  first  of  all  express  my  strong  conviction,  based 
upon  observation  as  well  as  upon  abstract  reasoning,  that 
moral  ideas  do  not  require  to  be  created  or  implanted  in  the 
minds  of  children  by  their  elders.  Nothing  is  more  certain 
than  that  the  child  is  born  potentially  a  moral  being,  pos- 
sessing a  moral  nature  which  requires  only  to  be  evoked  and 
developed  by  environmental  conditions.  If  this  be  not  true, 
then  neither  is  it  true  that  he  is  born  potentially  an  active 
being,  possessing  a  volitional  nature  which  requires  only 
to  be  evoked  and  developed  by  suitable  conditions.     If  no 


166  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

amount  of  training  can  ever  make  a  moral  being  of  a  dog, 
it  is  because  he  possesses  no  moral  nature  to  begin  with. 
If  a  child  is  capable  of  attaining  to  advanced  moral  ideas 
and  distinctions,  it  is  because  he  possesses  at  the  outset  a 
moral  nature  upon  which  instruction  and  discipline  can  take 
hold.  An  empirical  account  of  the  derivation  of  the  moral 
nature  out  of  conditions  in  which  no  germs  of  it  are  to  be 
found,  fails  utterly  when  tested  either  by  observed  facts  or 
by  logical  criticism. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  it  would  be  equally  wide  of  the 
mark  to  say  that  children  are  born  into  the  world  fully 
equipped  moral  beings.  The  same  transformation,  in  fact, 
takes  place  here  as  elsewhere.  The  new-born  is  everything 
potentially,  nothing  actually.  He  is  full  to  overflowing 
with  moral  capabilities,  which  awake  to  active  functioning 
as  soon  as  the  proper  conditions  are  extant;  just  as  his 
senses  awake  to  active  functioning  as  soon  as  the  proper 
material  conditions  become  available.  And  these  capabili- 
ties and  tendencies,  moreover,  which  I  have  here  called 
moral,  do  not  all  point  in  one  direction.  Some  of  them,  as 
Professor  Sully  remarks,  are  pro-moral,  and  others  are 
contra-moral.  The  young  child  betrays  astonishing  capaci- 
ties for  virtue,  and,  at  the  same  time,  equally  surprising 
capabilities  for  vice.  He  is  capable  of  the  loftiest  achieve- 
ments in  virtue,  and,  at  the  same  time  (and  very  likely  for 
the  same  reason),  he  is  capable  of  sinking  to  the  lowest 
depths  of  depravity.  But  at  the  outset  he  is  neither  the 
one  nor  the  other,  simply  because  he  lacks,  as  yet,  that 
comprehension  of  moral  law,  and  of  the  relation  of  actions 
thereto,  which  is  a  sine  qua  non  of  both  virtue  and  vice. 

It  follows,  too,  from  all  this,  that  the  actions  of  a  young 
child  must  be  viewed  from  a  somewhat  different  standpoint, 
and  judged  by  somewhat  different  criteria,  from  those 
applied  to  the  actions  of  adults,  if  we  would  avoid  a  mis- 


ESTHETIC,   MORAL,   AND   RELIGIOUS  IDEAS.         167 

taken  moral  diagnosis.  A  child's  act,  on  its  external  side, 
may  resemble  very  closely  that  of  an  adult  in  the  same  cir- 
cumstances ;  but,  on  the  inner  side,  it  may  be  devoid  of  that 
conscious  intention  to  compass  a  certain  end,  which  is 
essential  to  its  strictly  ethical  character,  A  man  may 
behave  in  a  cruel  manner  to  his  horse,  in  the  full  knowl- 
edge of  the  pain  he  is  inflicting,  and  in  full  consciousness 
of  the  disharmony  between  his  conduct  and  the  moral  ideal; 
a  child  pulls  the  cat's  tail,  very  likely  with  no  idea  of  the 
painful  consequences  of  his  act,  merely  from  an  overflow  of 
energy,  or  as  an  expression  of  his  instinct  of  power.  Obvi- 
ously, the  two  actions  differ  very  widely  in  moral  character. 
So,  as  many  careful  observers  can  testify,  the  falsehoods  of 
children  are  not  always  lies,  and  their  acts  of  rebellion 
against  authority  do  not>  in  every  case,  possess  all  the 
marks  of  malicious  and  premeditated  disobedience.  Little 
children  are  swayed,  to  a  very  great  extent,  by  the  vivid- 
ness of  their  imagination  and  by  the  strength  of  their 
impulses.  Conscious,  deliberate,  moral  conduct  requires 
time  and  experience  for  its  full  development. 

Nevertheless,  when  once  the  moral  nature  has  awakened 
into  activity,  there  is  no  class  of  ideas  which  children  accept 
more  readily  than  those  of  morality.  To  find  that  certain 
things  are  "right"  and  others  "wrong,"  causes  them  no 
more  surprise  than  to  find  that  certain  articles  of  food  are 
beneficial  and  others  injurious.  The  fact  that  a  child 
requires  instruction  and  a  certain  accumulation  of  experi- 
ence in  order  that  he  shall  properly  classify  concrete  actions 
under  ethical  rubrics,  is  no  more  an  argument  in  favor  of 
the  experiential  origin  of  his  moral  ideas  than  is  his  fail- 
ure to  correctly  locate  distant  objects  an  argument  in  favor 
of  the  experiential  derivation  of  the  idea  of  space.  Indeed, 
it  seems  to  me  that  a  very  instructive  parallel  may  be  drawn 
just  here.     As,  in  the  case  of  perception,  the  discernment  of 


168  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF   CHILDHOOD. 

the  actual  space-qualities  of  real  objects  becomes  more  and 
more  accurate  through  the  accumulation  of  experience, 
wliile,  on  the  other  hand,  no  object  could  ever  have  been 
perceived  at  all,  but  for  the  space-form  contributed  by  the 
subject;  so  it  is  in  moral  distinctions.  Experience  and 
instruction  quicken  our  discernment  of  the  moral  qualities 
of  concrete  acts  ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  the  very  first  act  of 
moral  discernment,  as  well  as  all  subsequent  ones,  presup- 
pose and  require  that  ethical-form,  if  I  may  so  name  it, 
■which  is  the  contribution  of  the  subject  himself. 

A  number  of  valuable  studies  have  been  made  in  recent 
years  on  the  moral  nature  of  childhood,  and  some  of  the 
results  may  be  briefly  indicated.  Dr.  Hall,^  in  an  inves- 
tigation touching  the  moral  nature  of  some  three  hundred 
city  children,  mostly  between  the  ages  of  twelve  and  four- 
teen, found  that  none  were  destitute  of  high  ideals  of  truth- 
fulness. Sometimes  they  showed  a  painful  degree  of 
pseudo-phobia,  or  fear  of  deviating  in  the  smallest  degree 
from  literal  accuracy  of  statement.  On  the  other  hand, 
when  lies  were  told,  many  excuses  and  palliatives  were 
found.  Lies  told  to  shelter  a  weaker  playmate,  to  please 
a  very  warm  friend,  or  to  attain  some  much-coveted  object, 
were  looked  upon  as  extremely  pardonable.  Falsehoods,  in 
many  cases,  are  the  result  of  vivid  juvenile  imagination,  and 
in  such  cases,  being  told  in  perfect  sincerity,  are  not  lies  at 
all.  Several  studies  have  been  made,  by  Professor  Earl 
Barnes  and  others,^  on  the  subject  of  punishment,  and  it 
is  found  that  all  children  admit  that  wrong  acts  require 
punishment,  though  the  reasons  given  are  various,  and 
among  the  younger  children  there  is,  as  one  would  expect, 
a  certain  readiness  to  accept  the  dicta  of  authority  on  the 

1  ♦' Children's  Lies,"  American  Journal  of  Psychology,  J&nnaxj, 
1890.  2  See  Pedagogical  Seminary. 


ESTHETIC,   MORAL,    AND   RELIGIOUS   IDEAS.        169 

question.  This  feature,  however,  is  far  less  prominent  than 
one  might  suppose,  and  decreases  rapidly  with  the  growth 
of  the  child.  It  is  also  to  be  observed  that  the  number  of 
children  who  take  an  exclusively  utilitarian  view  of  the 
purpose  of  punishment,  is  surprisingly  small.  In  one  in' 
vestigation,  while  38  per  cent  of  the  children  said  the  pun- 
ishment was  just  "because  children  ought  to  obey,"  only 
6  per  cent  said  "  because  it  would  make  the  child  more  care- 
ful in  future."  This  suggests  a  very  important  thought, 
viz.,  that  all  punishment  ought  to  be  based  directly  on  the 
moral  law.  In  other  words,  it  ought  always  to  be  under- 
stood, when  a  child  is  punished,  that  he  is  suffering  because 
of  his  violation  of  right,  suffering  because  he  has  done 
wrong,  because  he  has  transgressed  the  commands  of  those 
who,  to  him,  are  the  living  representatives  of  moral  order. 
To  base  all  punishment  on  mere  "  consequences  "  in  the  way 
of  pain  and  pleasure,  as  Spencer  and  Rousseau  have  done, 
is  to  lose  sight  entirely  of  the  real  purpose  of  moral  disci- 
pline, and  hopelessly  to  obscure  the  real  issue  at  stake. 
Natural  law  is  one  thing,  moral  law  is  another.  To  confine 
child-punishment  to  the  "discipline  of  consequences,"  is  to 
ignore  the  existence  of  moral  law  altogether.  Such  a  method 
receives  its  most  telling  rebuke  from  the  children  them- 
selves, when  they  tell  us  that  they  consider  punishment  not 
merely  as  corrective  and  preventative,  but  also  as  retribu- 
tive—  the  vengeance  of  a  moral  environment  against  a  wil- 
ful violation  of  its  sanctity.  The  attempted  reduction  of 
moral  law  to  natural  law  is  simply  an  attempt  to  get  rid 
of  moral  law  altogether.  It  entirely  ignores  the  element 
of  personality,  and  dilutes  responsibility  by  placing  acci- 
dents that  are  followed  by  physical  pain  on  exactly  the 
same  level  as  moral  dereliction.  According  to  this  "  disci- 
pline of  consequences  "  it  should  be  just  as  wrong  to  stumble 
and  hurt  oneself  as  to  disobey  one's  parents  and  be  pun' 


ITO  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF  CHILDHOOD. 

ished.  But  any  child  knows  better  than  this  without 
special  instruction.  The  doctrine,  moreover,  utterly  con- 
fuses the  child's  moral  perspective  by  teaching  him  (by 
implication)  that  no  action  of  his  is  wrong  provided  he  can 
manage  to  escape  its  painful  consequences.  But  it  is 
scarcely  necessary  to  discuss  further  at  present  a  doctrine 
already  so  widely  discredited  by  competent  psychologists 
and  educators.  It  is,  however,  very  gratifying  to  be  able 
to  express  my  thorough  conviction  that  the  normal  child, 
as  well  as  the  average,  unsophisticated  man,  is  at  one  with 
Kant,  in  his  thoroughgoing  separation  of  moral  law  and 
moral  obligation  from  every  vestige  of  dependence  on 
"empirical  instigations." 

These  considerations  lead  naturally  to  our  final  topic,  the 
religious  nature  of  the  child.  The  connecting  link  between 
morality  and  religion,  so  far,  at  least,  as  childhood  is  con- 
cerned, is  to  be  found  in  several  facts,  which  may  serve  as 
the  occasion  for  the  few  remarks  we  have  to  make : 

(1)  Right  and  good  are  naturally  connected,  in  the  child's 
mind,  with  the  personality  of  some  adult  for  whom  he  feels 
affection,  reverence,  and  trust.  As  moral  ideas  develop, 
they  are  naturally  closely  associated  with  those  persons 
(normally  the  parents)  whose  wishes,  commands,  prohi- 
bitions, are  coincident  with,  and  very  apt  to  become 
synonymous  in  the  child's  mind  with  the  requirements  of 
a  moral  order.  Hence,  the  element  of  responsibility  to 
some  superior  person  becomes  clearly  developed;  and  this 
comes  to  pass  the  more  easily  in  view  of  the  fact  that  com- 
prehension of  the  wish  of  a  real  person  is  much  less  diffi- 
cult than  comprehension  of  abstract  moral  distinctions. 

(2)  In  this  way,  as  is  perfectly  natural,  the  child  comes 
to  look  upon  some  person  (in  all  probability  his  mother)  as 
the  living  embodiment  of  moral  worth,  as  well  as  of  moral 
order.     He  feels  his  responsibility  to  her;  he  knows  she  is 


ESTHETIC,   MORAL,   AND   RELIGIOUS   IDEAS.         171 

pleased  when  he  does  right,  and  displeased  when  he  does 
wrong.  His  ideas  of  right  and  wrong  become  inseparably 
associated  with  her  personality.  In  a  very  real  sense  she 
stands  to  him  in  the  place  of  God.  And  perhaps  it  may  not 
be  irreverent  to  suggest  (though  the  tremendous  respon- 
sibility of  parenthood  is  thereby  clearly  indicated)  that  a 
child's  parents  should,  as  they  in  most  cases  certainly  do, 
constitute  his  divinity  pro  tern  :  all  the  divinity  that  he, 
at  least  up  to  a  certain  age,  is  able  to  understand ;  and  that 
his  worship  of  them  is  probably  the  best  preparation  he  can 
have  for  a  higher  worship  later  on.  Reverence  and  love 
for  parents  are  the  best  prelude  to  reverence  and  love  for 
Jehovah.  It  is  a  tolerably  safe  assertion,  that  a  child  who, 
for  any  reason,  has  never  worshipped  his  mother,  will  be  by 
so  much  the  less  likely  ever  to  worship  any  other  divinity. 
The  child  who  has  never  known  what  it  meant  to  be  trained 
in  voluntary  submission  of  his  will  to  the  will  of  wise 
parents,  will  be  by  so  much  the  less  likely  ever  to  yield  to 
God  that  ardent  submission  and  service  which  is  the  mark 
of  the  truly  religious  life. 

(3)  Should  I  be  charged  with  anthropomorphism,  on 
account  of  these  remarks,  I  should  make  a  twofold  answer : 
In  the  first  place,  in  the  case  of  a  young  child,  you  must 
choose  between  anthropomorphism  and  nothing  at  all.  He 
is  not  yet  able  to  comprehend  a  purely  spiritual  personality. 
He  lives  in  the  world  of  sense,  and  is,  for  the  present,  com- 
pletely confined  to  the  material.  And  if  God,  to  him,  is 
not  like  father  or  mother  (the  best  people  the  child  knows), 
to  whom  shall  he  be  compared?  And  I  should  like  to  ask 
my  supposed  critic^  even  though  he  be  a  professor  of  the- 
ology or  metaphysic,  whether  he  is  quite  certain  that  his 
own  conception  of  the  Divine  Being,  even  at  threescore 
years  and  ten,  is  absolutely  free  from  the  last  vestige  of 
anthropomorphism. 


172  THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF  CHILDHOOD. 

And,  in  the  second  place,  is  it  fair  to  assume,  at  the  out- 
set, that  anthropomorphism  is  entirely  evil  and  false? 
Does  a  sound  theology  or  philosophy  acknowledge  no  com- 
munity of  attributes  between  God  and  man?  Is  not  that 
rather  the  truest  view,  which  looks  upon  man  as  made  in 
the  divine  likeness ;  and  teaches  that  one  of  the  most  effec- 
tive channels  to  knowledge  of  God  is  by  way  of  a  true 
insight  into  the  real  nature  of  mari  ? 

(4)  And  now,  if  this  be  the  road  to  religious  training, 
viz.,  through  human  personality  to  the  Divine,  does  it  not 
follow,  as  Dr.  Hall  has  said,^  that  religious,  as  well  as 
moral,  training  should  begin  in  the  cradle?  Reverential 
submission  to  parental  authority,  implicit  trust  in  parental 
wisdom,  and  tender  affection  in  response  to  parental  love 
—  these  are  the  natural  preludes  to  religion  in  the  higher 
sense,  and  these  can  be  cultivated  almost  from  the  very 
dawn  of  conscious  life. 

(5)  "But,"  it  maybe  objected,  "you  have  not  shown  that 
religious  training  is  any  necessary  part  of  child  culture. 
May  it  not  be  worth  while  to  inquire  whether  there  is  really 
any  place  for  religion  in  human  culture;  whether  we  ought 
not  to  eliminate  this  relic  of  superstition  and  substitute  for 
it  the  knowledge  and  worship  of  nature?" 

To  this  I  answer  by  simply  pointing  to  the  religious 
nature  as  a  bona  fide  constituent  of  human  thought  and  feel- 
ing. It  is  no  more  a  spurious  interpolation  than  is  the 
moral  life.  A  sound  and  thoroughgoing  psychological 
analysis  finds  it  as  a  datum  of  human  consciousness,  capa- 
ble, of  course,  like  every  other  faculty,  of  development 
through  experiedce,  as  well  as  of  distortion  through  false 
teaching;  but  withal  a  genuine  thing,  not  owing  its  origin 
to  the  superstitions  of  the  nursery.     And  if  education  in 

1  Pedagogical  Seminary,  L,  2. 


ESTHETIC,   MORAL,    AND   RELIGIOUS   IDEAS.        173 

the  true  sense  means  the  development  of  the  whole  person- 
ality, then  the  religious  nature  demands  its  share  in  the 
culture  of  the  individual.  And  if  this  demand  be  refused, 
the  individual  is  by  so  much  imperfectly  developed.' 

(6)  What,  then,  finally,  shall  be  the  relation  of  nature- 
study  to  religious  training?  Little  children  are  constantly 
speculating  as  to  the  sources  of  things  in  the  material 
world.  No  question  is  more  frequently  on  their  lips  than, 
"Who  made  this?"  "Where  did  this  come  from?"  Is  there 
no  connection  between  this  and  the  religious  consciousness? 
Surely!  The  soundest  metaphysical  view  with  which  I  am 
acquainted  finds  the  whole  visible  material  universe  to  be 
but  the  infinitely  varied  and  beautiful  expression  of  one 
great,  eternal  being.  Through  nature,  then,  to  nature's 
God,  would  seem  to  be  one  of  the  ways  and  means  of 
religious  growth,  and  natural  religion  becomes  the  basis  and 
indispensable  prelude  to  revealed  religion.  A  proper  appre- 
ciation of  nature,  as  the  product  of  the  Divine  power  and 
wisdom,  is  by  no  means  an  unworthy  stepping-stone  to  a 
proper  appreciation  of  redemption  as  an  expression  of  the 
Divine  Love. 


1  It  will  be  observed  that  I  have  employed  no  other  but  the  psycho- 
logical argument ;  not  because  of  any  lack  of  confidence  in  other  lines 
of  proof,  but  merely  because  none  of  the  others  lies  within  the  scope 
of  this  treatise. 


INDEX. 


Abstraction,  61. 

Action,  51,  91, 102. 

Affectation,  110. 

Affection,  84. 

Altruism,  86. 

Analogy,  65. 

Anger,  75,  110. 

Association,  52,  53,  54,  61, 134. 

Astonishment,  78. 

Attention,  48,  91,  92,  111,  113. 

Beautiful,  feeling  of,  82, 161, 164,  etc. 
Beckoning,  103. 
Blinking,  7. 
Brain,  123. 

Color,  14, 161. 

Concept,  59,  134, 138. 

Consonants,  149. 

Coordination,  6. 

Coughing,  95,  103. 

Creeping,  100. 

Crowing,  93. 

Cry,  ix.,  43,  95, 104, 106, 108, 125, 159. 

Curiosity,  79. 

Deaf-mutes,  59. 

Denotation,  62. 

Desire,  91,  92,  110,  111,  113,  118. 

Differentiation,  45. 

Disobedience,  167. 

Doll,  105. 

Dramatic  instinct,  83. 

Drawing,  161,  etc. 

Dreams,  56,  75. 


Ear,  20,  30,  117. 


Eye,  2,  6,  7,  29,  96. 

Falsehood,  167, 168. 
Fixation,  8. 

Foetus,  1,  2,  20,  27,  35,  37,  39,  41,  93^ 
95,  123. 

Generalization,  61. 
Gesture,  118. 
Gutturals,  150. 

Habit,  94. 

Head,  holding,  100;  shaking,  109; 

nodding,  109. 
Hearing,  23,  24,  47,  73. 
Heredity,  26,  44,  79,  83,  92,  94,  115. 
Hiccough,  95. 
Homesickness,  85. 
Humor,  81. 
Hunger  and  thirst,  39,  40. 

"  I,"  68.  69,  70, 137. 

Idiots,  26. 

Illusions,  47. 

Imagination,  55,  56,  86. 

Imitation,  45,  56,  102,  103,  104,  105, 
109,  128,  129,  131, 133, 138, 139,  151,  • 
159.  * 

Impatience,  77. 

Inhibition,  95,  97,  109,  112. 

Instinct,  41,  58,  83,  87,  92,  98,  117. 

Invention,  117,  132. 

Jealousy,  87. 
Judgment,  63. 


Kiss,  84,  108. 
176 


176 


INDEX. 


Laugh,  82,  95, 106. 
Light,  4,  5. 
Lips,  28,  122. 
Localization,  45. 

Mama,  127,  159. 

"  Me,"  70,  137. 

Mirror-image,  47,  54,  67,  161. 

Mispronunciations,  148,  151. 

Morality,  165,  169. 

Mouth  movements,  98,  100. 

Movement,  6,  7, :«,  39,  41,  45,  51,  66, 

91,  92,  93,  94,  96,  102,  106,  110,  111, 

118. 
Muscular  feeling,  41. 
Music,  24,  82,  lOG,  128. 

Nostrils,  29,  30. 

Pain,  5,  39,  40,  97. 

Papa,  56, 127. 

Parts  of  speech,  136,  145,  etc. 

Perspective,  12, 163. 

Pictures,  63,  161. 

Play,  80. 

Pouting,  107. 

Property  instinct,  68,  86. 

Punishment,  168. 

Purpose,  notion  of,  62. 

Reasoning,  63. 
Recept,  60. 
Recognition,  84. 
Reduplication,  133,  139,  157. 
Reflexes,  5,  91,  95,96,  97, 159. 
Religion,  79,  170,  etc. 
Respiration,  95. 
Rhyming,  54. 
Rhythm,  129, 136. 


Right-handedness,  etc.,  98. 

Selfishness,  86. 
Sentences,  132,  135. 
Sibilants,  137. 
Singing,  133. 
Sitting,  100. 
Smile,  81,  84,  93, 106. 
Sneezing,  95. 
Space,  43,  45,  167. 
Standing,  100. 
Starting,  96. 
Stretching,  93. 
Sucking,  38,  .39,  46,  64,  99. 
Suggestion,  85,89, 113. 
Summation  of  stimuli,  51. 
Surprise,  78. 
Swallowing,  95. 
Syllables,  127. 
Sympathy,  85. 

Teeth,  98,  122. 
Temperature,  37,  38. 
Thumb,  contraposition,  98. 
Tongue,  28,  100,  122. 
Transformation,  ix.,  71,  80,  90,  94, 
106,  158. 

Vanity,  68,  83,  110, 162, 166. 
Visual  interpretation,  18,  19. 
Vocal  apparatus,  121,  122. 
Vowels,  126. 

Walking,  100. 
Weeping,  109. 
Whistling,  104. 
Will,  92,  102,  110,  112. 
Words,  131. 

Yawning,  92. 


ADVERTISEMENTS 


EDUCATION.  135 


The  Studenfs  Froebel. 

By  William  H.  Herford,  late  member  of  the  Universities  of  Bonn,  Berlin, 
and  Zurich.     Cloth.     128  pages.     Retail  price,  75  cents. 

THE  purpose  of  this  little  book,  as  stated  by  the  editor  in  his  preface, 
is  to  give  young  people,  who  are  seriously  preparing  themselves 
to  become  teachers,  a  brief  yet  full  account  of  Froebel's  Theory  of 
Education ;  his  practice  or  plans  of  method  is  reserved  for  a  second 
part.  This  book  is  adapted  from  Froebel's  Education  of  Humanity 
{^Die  Ersiehu7ig  der  Menschheif),  published  in  1826.  The  editor  has 
tried  to  give  what  is  Froebel's  own  in  English  as  close  as  possible  to 
the  very  words  of  his  author.  The  book,  in  addition  to  an  Introduc- 
tion treating  of  the  subject  in  general,  has  chapters  on  The  Nursling, 
The  Child,  The  Boy,  and  The  School,  and  summaries  of  the  teachings. 

The  Psychology  of  Childhood, 

By  Frederick  Tracy,  Lecturer  in  Philosophy  in  the  University  of  Toronto, 
with  Introduction  by  President  G.  Stanley  Hall  of  Clark  University.  Cloth. 
186  pages.     Retail  price,  90  cents. 

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as  completely,  as  possible,  the  results  of  the  systematic  study  of 
children,  and  has  included  everything  of  importance  that  can  be  found. 
Some  of  its  special  features  are  thus  summarized  :  —  ( i )  It  is  the  first 
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this  field.  (3)  The  work  contains  a  large  amount  of  material,  the  re- 
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perhaps  a  score  of  very  reliable  observers.  (4)  The  subject  of  child- 
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tirely new  and  original  standpoint,  and  with  very  gratifying  results. 
(S)  A  very  exhaustive  bibliography,  containing,  it  is  believed,  every- 
thing of  value  that  has  ever  been  written  on  this  subject,  is  appended. 

The  fifth  edition,  revised  and  enlarged,  has  just  been  published. 
This  contains  many  improvements  in  the  earlier  chapters,  together 
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